More than three decades of PolioPlus success

What is Polio

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but affects mainly children under three (over 50% of all cases). The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Amongst those paralysed, 5%-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Although polio paralysis is the most visible sign of polio infection, fewer than 1% of polio infections ever result in paralysis. Poliovirus can spread widely before cases of paralysis are seen. As most people infected with poliovirus have no signs of illness, they are never aware they have been infected. After initial infection with poliovirus, the virus is shed intermittently in faeces (excrement) for several weeks. During that time, polio can spread rapidly through the community (further information from Polio Australia).


 


Rotary's Polio Plus - over 30 years

(adapted from http://www.endpolio.org/stories)

In February 1985, the Rotary President at that time, Dr. Carlos Canseco, announced the Rotary commitment to help control polio worldwide. Since then, Rotary’s dedication to the global eradication of polio has remained firm. 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of PolioPlus and three decades of progress and challenges the program has faced.

Though the PolioPlus program started in 1985, Rotary began the fight against polio much earlier. In 1979 Rotary members began a multiyear program that immunized more than 6 million children in the Philippines against polio (Rotary.org).

In its early years, PolioPlus was dedicated to fundraising for immunization efforts. In May 1988 Rotary announced that the campaign, which aimed to raise $120 million, had raised nearly $220 million in contributions and pledges. That same year, the World Health Assembly set a goal of worldwide polio eradication and launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) with Rotary as one of its partners. At the time, polio paralyzed more than 1,000 children worldwide every day and 125 countries were polio-endemic.

The GPEI partners, which also included WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were able to boost world immunization levels from less than 50 percent in 1985 to over 80 percent in 1992. Just five years after the GPEI was founded, the 500 millionth child was immunized against polio. To further efforts, Rotary started the PolioPlus Partners program in 1995, to fund and support National Immunization Days in polio-endemic countries (The Rotarian).

In 2007 Rotary entered into a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which issued Rotary a $100 million challenge grant to raise funds for polio eradication. This partnership continued to grow, and in 2013 the Gates Foundation offered to match Rotary’s contributions for polio eradication 2-to-1 for five years (up to $35 million per year).

PolioPlus is truly international. Rotary has 1.2 million members in nearly every country working together to end polio for good.

Polio today:

Since the launch of the GPEI, the global incidence of polio cases has decreased by 99 percent. In March 2014 India, once deemed the most difficult place to end polio, was declared polio-free, making the entire Southeast Region polio-free.

As of February 11, 2015, Africa had no new cases of wild poliovirus in six months, though the continent must mark three full years without a new case to be officially declared polio-free by WHO. Until polio is stopped in the remaining endemic areas, all countries must maintain high levels of surveillance and immunization rates to rapidly detect any importation of the poliovirus and minimize its impact. Now that 99 percent of the world’s population lives in regions certified polio-free, the goal of eradication is closer than ever.

The only two other polio-endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, continue to experience hurdles in polio eradication campaigns including inaccessibility to children and security. Last year, Pakistan saw an outbreak which resulted in more than 300 cases, the highest number in the country in more than a decade. As a result, Pakistan accounted for almost 90% of the world’s cases. However, there has been improvement in 2015. Cases are down nearly 70% over this same time in 2014.

Progress against polio, while significant, remains fragile. Rotary’s funds will support immunization efforts in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, while additional funds will support efforts to keep other at-risk countries polio-free.

The Rotary Club of Castle Hill

Our club has been a solid supporter of the Polio Plus program via The Rotary Foundation since the program's inception, and it is always a significant beneficiary of our annual fundraising program. To learn how you can support our club's efforts, please complete an enquiry form at the link below, and return it to the Rotary Foundation Chair via the "Send to" drop-down menu.