Rotary’s Role

  • As the volunteer arm of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, polio eradication is Rotary’s top philanthropic goal. We were the catalyst to the effort.
  • Rotary’s chief role is fundraising, advocacy, awareness raising and mobilizing volunteers.
  • Rotary’s involvement started with a successful pilot project to immunize children in the Philippines in 1979.
  • Since 1985, polio eradication has been Rotary’s flagship project. This year marks thirty years of Rotary commitment to ending this disease.
  • In addition to fundraising and advocacy efforts, many Rotary members join health workers in polio-affected countries to immunize children against polio.
  • Rotary members around the world advocate to ensure governments, the private sector and the general public are aware of the historic opportunity to eradicate polio and encourage them provide the necessary financial and political support.
  • Through the “End Polio Now: Make History Today” campaign, every dollar Rotary contributes to polio eradication (up to US$35 million/year through 2018) will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • Rotary has contributed more than US$1.4 billion dollars and committed countless volunteer hours to fight the disease. 

The Pathway to Eradication

  • Rotary and its partners are on-track to end polio in the next few years. The eradication effort has seen significant progress in recent years:
  • In January 2014, we celebrated one of the world’s greatest achievements in global health: India being certified as polio-free. India was once considered the hardest place on earth to stop polio. Now, India’s success proves polio can be stopped in even the most challenging conditions.
  • In September 2015, Nigeria – Africa’s last polio-endemic country – was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization.
  • The entire continent of Africa has not reported a polio case since August 11, 2014.
  • Since the global initiative began more than 25 years ago, Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9% percent worldwide.
  • When the initiative started in 1988, more than 350,000 people were stricken by polio every year - nearly 1,000 new polio cases every day. 
  • All countries must continue to maintain high routine immunization coverage until polio is eradicated everywhere.

Why Polio

  • Polio will be only the second human disease ever eradicated (after smallpox).
  • No child anywhere in the world will have to suffer from a disease which has no cure, but is completely preventable.
  • Polio efforts are reaching previously inaccessible children, which opens the door to them benefiting from other global health and development resources.
  • The infrastructure created by the polio program – from the vast surveillance and laboratory networks, to the hundreds of thousands of local health workers – are already being used to address other health challenges and diseases.

Call to Action

  • Share your voice by raising awareness that we are “This Close” to ending polio.
  • Encourage your government to support polio eradication.
  • See your donation tripled through the 2:1 match by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation when you contribute to Rotary’s efforts to end polio.
  • Visit endpolio.org to learn more and contribute.