End Polio Now!

Tomorrow, 24th October, is World Polio Day.

In New Zealand, we’re fortunate that polio has, in most of our lifetimes, been consigned to the history books. Still, as recently as 1956 there were 897 new cases of polio reported, and 50 deaths from the disease. Today, most New Zealanders have no idea how debilitating polio was, although there are still Kiwis living with significant levels of disability as a result of contracting polio in their childhood.

Fast forward to the 1980’s. Rotary International was looking for a global humanitarian project. A multi-year programme had seen six million children vaccinated in the Philippines. Rotary set itself the lofty goal of completely eradicating polio, and was pivotal in the establishment of the Global Polio Initiative. From 350,000 new cases of polio worldwide in 1988, this initiative has reduced polio by 99.9%.

The wild polio virus is now endemic only in remote parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nigeria marked three years of being polio-free in August, and it is expected that the World Health Organisation will shortly certify Nigeria and the African continent as officially free from polio.

But it’s the last part that’s proving the hardest. The areas where polio has not been eradicated are remote, and often controlled by the Taliban, who are deeply suspicious of western medicines. Aid workers in these areas have been killed when trying to vaccinate children. Despite that, Rotary and its partners are determined to finish the job.

One of those partners is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill and Melinda have donated billions of dollars to the eradication of polio, matching every dollar raised by Rotary with two dollars of their own.

Tomorrow, Rotarians (myself included) will be out in force on the Capital Connection to Wellington, on the Wellington suburban network and at stations around Wellington, and on the evening train to Masterton. Dunedin Rotarians are hitting the bus network, and Auckland Rotarians will be on the trains next Friday, 1st November. You’ll spot us in our bright red End Polio Now t-shirts, and if you can spare a few dollars, we’d be hugely grateful. The goal tomorrow and next week is to raise $150,000 to help to vaccinate children in those last endemic areas.

Only one disease has been completely eradicated in our lifetimes; smallpox. Rotary and its partners want to double that total, and spare children all around the world disability, paralysis and even death through polio. You can help us to #EndPolioNow