WORLD'S GREATEST MEAL LUNCH

We were delighted to welcome Judith Diment MBE to our World's Greatest Meal Lunch on 08 October 2024.

Judith started an independent award-winning Thames Valley public relations consultancy in 1988 and has held senior positions in marketing and communications for over 30 years including Head of PR at the Natural History Museum, London.  

Judith has worked for more than 20 years on polio advocacy work with donor governments for Rotary International to secure funding for Polio. Her work has taken her all over the world, participating in immunisation campaigns, high-level meetings, and working closely with our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Judith is also Rotary’s Representative to the Commonwealth.

Judith not only updated us on the latest situation regarding Polio cases, which have increased in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also touched on the current Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026.

We also learned more about Rotary International's role within the United Nations, and many allied international bodies, including the COP meetings.

The event was supported by our members and guests, and Rotarians from Bromley Club, Beckenham Club, West Wickham Club and Addiscombe and Shirley Club.

The event was hosted by President Elect Peter Spalding, seen above with Judith Diment.

The lunch, held at the Masonic Halls, Croydon, raised £336 for the End Polio Now Campaign.

·        Since 1985 Rotary’s Key Humanitarian priority has been to rid the world of polio.

·        Polio is a virus which affects children under 5 and causes paralysis and even death.

·        Rotary spearheaded the campaign at a time when there were over 1000 cases a day in 125 countries.

·       Today thanks to the tireless efforts of Rotary members and our global partners, the number of cases are down by 99.9% and just a handful remain in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

·        Health worker training and vaccination programmes are essential to ensure the world is declared polio free.

·        Much of the infrastructure built up because of Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign has been utilised across the world to tackle other diseases.

·        Partnerships include Rotary, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and more recently the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. These organisations work alongside governments of the world to end polio.

·        Because of the efforts of Rotary and our partners, nearly 1.9 million people who would otherwise have been paralysed are walking and more than 1.5 million people are alive and would otherwise have died.

·        Despite there only being a handful of cases left in the world, continued campaigning, health worker training and vaccination programmes are essential to stop the disease returning and ensuring the world is certified polio free. Over 400 million children still must receive their polio vaccination every year in more than 56 countries.

·        Rotary members continue to play a key role in many aspects of the polio programme including on the ground in several countries as well as fundraising and advocacy.

·       The World’s Greatest Meal initiative is one way of raising funds with any money raised added to by the Gates Foundation.

·        Failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases worldwide every year in a decade.