Rotary Marks World Polio Day with £1,800 Donation to Eradicate Disease Globally - October 2026

The contribution will support immunisation, surveillance and response activities to stop poliovirus transmission worldwide.

This year’s global theme - “One day, one focus: ending polio for good” - highlights both the historic progress made and the urgent work still required to protect every child on Earth. For over 45 years, Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)—including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—have reduced global polio cases by 99.9 % globally. Wild poliovirus remains endemic in only two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, as long as the virus exists anywhere, children everywhere remain at risk.

For Club member and polio survivor Simon Jennings, the cause is personal:

“I caught polio as a child but was fortunate that it had only a minor impact on my life. Many others were not so lucky and continue to suffer its devastating effects. Vaccination has protected countless children, and Rotary’s work alongside health agencies and local communities gives me hope. The Club’s £1,800 contribution will help vaccinate more children and bring a polio-free world closer.”

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 45 years. Thanks to the efforts of its volunteers, donors and partners, more than three billion children have been protected through vaccination against this paralyzing and potentially fatal disease.

Thanks to Rotary International’s partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Club’s £1,800 donation to the PolioPlus Fund will be matched 2-to-1 by the Gates Foundation, tripling its value in the fight to eradicate Polio.

Cecilia Ngotho, President of the Rotary Club of Rushen & Western Mann said

"We are incredibly proud to make this £1,800 contribution on World Polio Day."

She added

"We cannot afford to stop short when we are this close to making history. Eradicating polio will make it only the second human disease ever wiped out, following smallpox. However, until wild poliovirus is completely stopped everywhere, no country is truly safe. Every pound raised and every voice raised brings us closer to the finish line to secure a safer, polio-free future for children all over the world."

To learn more about Rotary’s mission or to support the eradication campaign, visit the official End Polio Now platform at https://www.endpolio.org/