World Pledges More Than $1 Billion to End Polio
The historic pledges at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta will shrink the $1.5 billion gap in the funding that the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative say is needed to reduce polio cases to zero worldwide. Five cases have been reported this year, the lowest number in history. read the story>
Rotary, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, building on Rotary's Polio Plus program begun in 1985. In 1007, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joined Rotary in its commitment to ending polio.
Since 2013, the Gates Foundation has matched every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication 2-to-1, up to $35 million per year. Rotary, with matching funds from the Gates Foundation, has contributed more than $1.6 billion to end polio.
Since we started the fight agains polio, we've reduced the number of polio cases by 99.9 percent and reached more than 2.5 billion children with the vaccine. There are fewer polio cases today than ever before, but we will not stop until we reach zero. If polio is not eradicated, hundreds of thousands of children could be paralyzed. Global health care costs would rise dramatically, and many children's quality of life would be drastically diminished.
Join us in the fight to end polio. Help us save lives and give chlldren a chance at a prosperous future.
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Polio News and Stories
Latest news from:
Rotary's End Polio Now>
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative>
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention>
World Health Organization>
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation>
(June 27, 2017) Thinking Locally and Acting Globally: The Amazing Legacy of Rotary (Gates Foundation)
(June 17, 2017) World polio watchdog praises Pakistan's progress (Vatican Radio)
(June 13, 2017) Rotary International, Gates Foundation, Several Nations Pledge Total Of $1.2 Billion Toward Polio Eradication Efforts (Kaiser Family Foundation)
(June 8, 2017) Syrian polio outbreak hits global effort to eradicate virus (Reuters)
(September 20, 2016) Polio Past & Present: Global Progress Since the 1916 New York City Polio Outbreak (Global Polio Eradication Initiative event at the New York Library)
(July 7, 2016) Pakistan and Afghanistan: the Last Frontiers in the 100-year War on Polio (Australian Broadcastng Company)
(June 27, 2016) The Importance of Surveillance for Polio Eradication (EndPolio.org)
(May 16, 2016) Rotary Honors 2016 U. S. Congressional Polio Eradication Champions (EndPolio.org)
(May 16, 2016) Pakistan could beat polio in months, says WHO (BBC)
(September 25, 2015) Nigeria declared polio-free, removed from endemic list (Rotary International)
(April 23, 2015) Editorial, "Vanquishing a Virus," in the Toronto Globe and Mail by Itzhak Perlman and former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.
(February 23, 2015) Three Decades of Polioplus
(December 30, 2014) The Rotary Foundation's top five stories about polio from 2014:
(October 6, 2014) The Southern Times of Namibia and Zimbabwe follows up on the 2011 eradication of polio from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(October 4, 2014) Karachi Pakistan's News International believes that Sindh is surrendering to polio without a fight.
(October 4, 2014) London's Guardian newspaper reports on the record number (202) of polio cases in Pakistan this year.
(October 2, 2014) TIME magazine writes about What It Will Take To End Polio.
(October 2, 2014) A DAWN.com (Pakistan) reporter relates stories of attacks on poilo vaccinators.
(September 29, 2014) Pakistan's Express Tribune reports the spread of polio. 10 more cases of polio reported as national total rises to 184
(May 6, 2014) The New York Times related that polio is spreading at an alarming rate, fueled by conflicts. The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency. Read follow up stories from Pakistan and answering vaccine questions.
(September 13, 2013) The Toronto Globe and Mail recently published a commentary about Rotary's role in the process of eradicating polio. Related story> Related interview with Bill Gates>
(September 9, 2013) The Independent (of London) wrote about Pakistani women risking their lives to continue polio immunizations.
(July 22, 2013) A recent New York Times article describes the political difficulties of eradicating polio in Pakistan. Related slide show> Related video>
(January 3, 2013) A recent story in TIME magazine talks about the fight to eradicate polio.
(September 27, 2012) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's remarks about polio eradication discuss the role of Rotary.
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