The Fight Against Polio

Rotary and the fight against Polio

Rotary is an international community that brings together leaders who step up to take on the world’s toughest challenges, locally and globally. 

The eradication of polio is one of our longest-standing and most significant efforts. 

Along with our partners, we have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. 

We have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide and we won't stop until we end the disease for good. 

Get involved via your local Rotary Club or find out more at www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio

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Journey highlights

The Journey in Video

Journey Highlights

·      1955 A vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk is declared “safe and effective.”

·      1960 The U.S. government licenses the oral polio vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin

·      1979 Rotary International begins its fight against polio with a multi-year project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippine

·      1985 Rotary International launches PolioPlus, the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative, with an initial fundraising target of US$120 million.

·      1988 Rotary International and the World Health Organization launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. There are an estimated 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries.

·      1994 The International Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication announces that polio has been eliminated from the Americas.

·      1995 Health workers and volunteers immunize 165 million children in China and India in 1 week. Rotary launches the PolioPlus Partners program, enabling Rotary members in polio-free countries to provide support to fellow members in polio-affected countries for polio eradication activities.

·      2000 A record 550 million children – almost 10% of the world's population – receive the oral polio vaccine. The Western Pacific region, spanning from Australia to China, is declared polio-free.

·      2003 Six countries remain polio-endemic – Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan.

·      2006 The number of polio-endemic countries drops to 4 - Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan.

·      2009 Rotary's overall contribution to the eradication effort nears $800 million. In January, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledges $355 million and issues Rotary a challenge grant of $200 million. This announcement will result in a combined $555 million in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

·      2012 Polio remains endemic in just 3 countries.

·      2014 India goes 3 full years without a new case caused by the wild poliovirus, and the World Health Organization certifies the South-East Asia region polio-free. Polio cases are down over 99% since 1988.

·      2019 Nigeria goes 3 full years without a new case caused by the wild poliovirus.

·      2020 The World Health Organization certifies the African region wild polio-free.