June 8, 2015
Bill Gates thanks Rotary for fighting to end polio
 
Bill Gates addressed Rotary members at the International Convention to thank them for their unwavering support to end polio over the last 30 years. 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of PolioPlus and three decades of progress and challenges the program has faced. In its early years, PolioPlus was dedicated to fundraising for immunization efforts. In May 1988 Rotary announced that the campaign, which aimed to raise US$120 million, had raised nearly $220 million in contributions and pledges. That same year, the World Health Assembly set a goal of worldwide polio eradication and launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) with Rotary as one of its partners.
 
The GPEI partners, which included WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were able to boost world immunization levels from less than 50 percent in 1985 to over 80 percent in 1992. In 2007 Rotary entered into a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which issued Rotary a $100 million challenge grant to raise funds for polio eradication. This partnership continued to grow, and in 2013 the Gates Foundation offered to match Rotary’s contributions for polio eradication 2-to-1 for five years (up to $35 million per year).
 
Since the launch of the GPEI, the global incidence of polio has decreased by 99 percent. In March 2014 India was declared polio-free, making WHO’s entire Southeast Asia Region polio-free. Now, only Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan remain polio-endemic.
 
Nigeria and the whole continent of Africa is on the cusp of being polio free, Dr. Hamid Jafari told audience members at the Rotary Convention on 8 June in São Paulo, Brazil.
Between 2013 and 2014, the reported cases of polio dropped from 53 to just six in Nigeria. Even more encouraging, said Jafari, is that the last case of polio in Nigeria was reported in July of last year and the last case in all of Africa was reported in Somalia in August.
“With a year of no polio cases in Nigeria tantalizingly close, and no cases in Somalia since August, the tireless work of so many people across the continent is paying off,” said Jafari, director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for the World Health Organization. “But it is incredibly important that Nigeria remains vigilant. As long as polio exists anywhere, it will continue to be a threat everywhere.”
Transmission of the wild poliovirus has also never been stopped in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2014, 85 percent of polio cases worldwide were in Pakistan, the country’s highest case count in over a decade. But progress has been made over the last few months to stem the spread of the virus. The focus for the government and all of the polio partners has shifted to missed children. Vaccinators have gained access to areas that have been out of reach for years, said Jafari.
Since January, cases in Pakistan are lower than this time last year thanks to advocacy work from Rotary members, said Jafari. “This is a reminder that we cannot let politics and conflict stand in our way, because at the end of the chain stands a mother or father that just wants to protect their child. But the coming months are the real test. We are entering the high season for polio transmission.” 
Jafari encouraged attendees to stay committed. “I need you to continue to advocate and engage with your political leaders with that strong, influential Rotary voice of yours, so that all our stakeholders continue to commit to funding the final stages,” he said. “I need you to keep on educating and engaging your communities and the global community on this great endeavor.”
 
Ryan Hyland
Rotary News
8-June-2015