Rotary has worked on eliminating the scourge of polio since 1985 when over 350,000 children each year suffered from the disease.

Countries have progressively been declared Polio free as vaccination of the population has been completed and the country has remained free of Polio for three years.

In 2011 only 650 cases were reported worldwide, and India was declared polio free for twelve months, a major achievement.

In 2019 Nigeria was declared Polio free after a long effort by Rotary and the World Health Ordanisation.

For the latest weekly report on the eradication effort use this link -http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx

To watch a video about the End Polio project use the play button below -

Polio is:  

• A crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease, polio (poliomyelitis) still strikes children mainly under the age of five in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. 
• Polio can cause paralysis and sometimes death.  Because there is no cure for polio, the best protection is prevention. For as little as US$0.60 worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.    
• It can cause paralysis within hours, and polio paralysis is almost always irreversible. 
• In the most severe cases, polio attacks the motor neurons of the brain stem, causing breathing difficulty or even death.
• Historically, polio has been the world’s greatest cause of disability.

The Danger

If polio isn’t eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children will be paralyzed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalize on its US$5 billion global investment in eradication.  

PolioPlus, the most ambitious program in Rotary’s history, is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. For more than 20 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease. Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognized worldwide as a model of public-private cooperation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal.  

In addition to providing financial and volunteer support, Rotary works to urge support from other public and private sector partners. This includes the campaign to End Polio Now, inspired by the extraordinary challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  

“As an international community, we have few opportunities to do something that is unquestionably good for every country and every child, in perpetuity. Polio eradication is one of these opportunities.”  

- Dr. Margaret Chan, World Health Organization director-general