Rotary is "this close" to eradicating polio.
World Polio Day is October 24. Dr. Susan Hubbell told us that as a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has helped reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. "Polio was once one of the most feared diseases globally. A highly infectious disease with no cure, polio spread rapidly through communities and left devastation in its wake. Every year, thousands of children used to be killed and hundreds of thousands paralyzed. In 2023, wild poliovirus transmission is restricted to two provinces in Afghanistan and seven districts in Pakistan, while 80% of variant poliovirus cases globally are constrained to 4 subnational geographies – northern Nigeria, south central Somalia, eastern DRC, and northern Yemen." She told us that the factors affecting polio eradication are: limited access to vaccination due to unrest, civil war, and insurgency; insufficient quality of polio eradication operations; insecurity, access problems and misinformation; and compromises imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the funds raised by Rotary and others helps to fund a global surveillance system that includes 145 laboratories across 92 countries. It is being used beyond polio eradication, to detect and respond to COVID-19 and other public health threats, including measles, yellow fever, neonatal tetanus and avian influenza. It ensures the early detection of outbreaks and timely response campaigns, minimizing the risk and consequences of additional spread.
Keith Horner reported that the Lima Rotary Club's PolioPlus campaign has nearly reached its $3,000 goal. He drew the names of the winners of the raffle prizes for those who have donated. They were Tracie Sanchez, Ann Welly, John Ficorilli, John Payne and Cliff Barber. Congratulations and thank you for your generosity!
We also had a visit from Pennywise the clown who passed out treats!
