Rotary continues to combat Polio

Rotary International recently announced an additional $35m in grants to support the global effort to end polio. 4 cases of polio were detected in Nigeria in 2016, which had previously not seen a case since July 2014 and with these cases, funding is needed to support rapid response plans in Nigeria and surrounding countries to stop the outbreak.

$16.15m will go to support the emergency response campaigns in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin (Chad, northern Cameroon, southern Niger and Central African Republic). In addition funding has been allocated to support polio eradication efforts in Afghanistan ($7.15m), Pakistan ($4.2m), Somalia ($4.64m), and South Sudan ($2.19m). A final grant in the amount of $666,845 will support technical assistance in UNICEF's West and Central Africa Regional Office.

Rotary has contributed more than $1.6 billion, including matching funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and countless volunteer hours since launching the polio immunisation program, PolioPlus, in 1985. The incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9%, from about 350,000 cases a year to 35 confirmed in 2016, and no cases as yet in 2017. While significant strides have been made against the paralysing disease, polio still remains a threat in hard-to-reach and under-served areas, and conflict zones.

Maintaining Rotary's collective commitment for a polio free world 5 members of Kingston Rotary Club joined a party of some 70 Rotarians and partners and members of Inner Wheel from Britain and Ireland, including RIBI President Eve Conway, to go to India for National Immunisation Day in January giving immunisation drops to children from the poorer communities and then helping to seek out and immunise children missed in the first day. Together with other large parties from Japan and wider Europe they worked with Rotarians from India supporting the work of local health workers.