Polio Today
Think polio is a thing of the past? Not quite, but it will be…
On World Polio Day Rotary International celebrates the progress made in the fight against polio and reminds that polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. Rotary is ‘nearly there’ in honouring its 1985 promise to rid the world of polio. Then, there were 350,000 cases a year but in 2023 there have been just 7 - 2 in Pakistan and 5 in Afghanistan. This is a truly phenomenal achievement that would never have happened without the involvement of thousands of Rotarians across the world who helped immunise over 2.5 billion children in 122 countries and, currently, Rotary and its partners immunize nearly 400m children every year. However, there are still 5 countries that are at the greatest risk of polio returning and another 26 that could potentially experience re-infection.
Rotary, with its partners, are continuing the fight so the past doesn’t become the present or the future.