In 1985, Rotary International launched PolioPlus,
a 20-year commitment to eradicate polio. PolioPlus is one of the most
ambitious humanitarian undertakings ever made by a private entity.
 It
will serve as a paradigm for private-public collaborations in the fight
against disease well into the 21st century.
As the polio-eradication program grew, so did
Rotary's commitment and involvement. By 1990, Rotary moved from providing
polio vaccine to children in developing countries to assisting health care
workers in the field, providing training for laboratory personnel to track
the polio virus and working with governments around the world in supporting
the historic health drive. Rotary looks to celebrate the global eradication
of polio in 2005, the organization's centennial year. How is Rotary
involved in the global polio-eradication effort?
Financially: In 1985, Rotary was recognized by the
World Health Organization as a non-governmental organization working in the
field of international health. In the same year, Rotary set a goal to raise
US$120 million to provide oral polio vaccine to newborns in the developing
world. When the campaign ended, Rotary had doubled its goal, collecting more
than $247 million. To date, the PolioPlus program has contributed $373
million to the protection of nearly 2 billion children. By 2005, Rotary's
financial commitment will reach nearly $500 million. On-the-ground
assistance: With its community-based network worldwide, Rotary is the
volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio.
Rotary volunteers assist in vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and
logistical help in co-operation with the national health ministries, WHO,
UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rotary's
volunteer efforts were instrumental in the eradication of polio from the
Western Hemisphere, which was certified polio-free in 1994.
Rotary in action
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In 1999, more than 100,000 Indian Rotary members
and their families joined the government of India in immunizing
more than 130 million children on one day, signaling the largest
public health event ever in the world.
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In 1996 and 1997,
Rotarians in Angola led a campaign to solicit corporate jets,
helicopters, and vehicles to move vaccine through Angola's land
mine-infested countryside. Additional volunteers mobilized by a
single Rotary club helped the government reach 80 percent of its
target population of children under five years of age.
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During the late 1980s,
11,000 Rotarians in Peru volunteered in a massive drive to
eliminate the virus in one of the last South American countries
in which polio still existed. Rotary volunteers assisted
national health care workers in door-to-door immunization
drives, transporting health care workers to remote vaccination
centers, analyzing data, and publicizing the immunization days
to raise awareness of the final assault against the crippling
disease.
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In countries where there
are no Rotary clubs, like Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos,
and Vietnam, the PolioPlus
Program not only funded vaccines and
promotional materials for National Immunization Days, it also
provided on-site volunteer assistance from neighboring countries
to assist national authorities in carrying out eradication
exercises.
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After extensive efforts
to eradicate polio in Cambodia, health officials tracked the
remaining pockets of polio to children living on the waterways,
who had been missed by the previously held National Immunization
Days. Rotary volunteers joined health officials in a
boat-to-boat follow-up campaign to successfully reach this
population and wipe out the virus.
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In many developing countries, methods
of communication vary from street plays to parades. Rotary
members in India and Pakistan performed street dramas and
organized rallies to educate parents about the need to immunize
their children against polio.
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