Rotary International has pledged $150 million to continue the worldwide fight against polio.
Rotary International president Jennifer Jones made this announcement at the star-studded Global Citizen Festival on September 24.
Jones, who spoke in front of 60,000 people in New York City and 10s of thousands more online and on TV, noted the state of emergency that the governor of New York state recently declared to combat a resurgence of polio in the region. Waldo Thöle of the Dundee Rotary Club told the Courier that, disturbingly, the first US polio case since 2013 was detected on July 22.
“In August, the poliovirus was detected in the wastewater system in London. The proposal is to vaccinate all children between one and nine years old.”
With World Polio Day (October 24) marked this week, Waldo said the Dundee Rotary Club supports the initiative, and is committed to raising funds through projects to assist in the eradication of the dreaded disease.
“Polio is preventable through vaccines and that wild poliovirus is endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although female vaccinators are critical to building relationships with mothers and reaching children in these areas, they sometimes can face harassment or even attacks.”
In 2021, about 25 million children went without critical immunizations.
“The world has beaten back this disease significantly, but we must redouble efforts,” Jones said.
The additional funding Jones announced will go to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which said in August that it was seeking new funding commitments for its 2022-26 polio eradication strategy.
Watch the Courier for updates on how you can support Rotary with their efforts to beat polio.
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