Polio Plus

Eradicating Polio

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
In the early 20th century, polio was one of the most feared diseases in industrialized countries, paralyzing hundreds of thousands of children every year. Soon after the introduction of effective vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s however, polio was brought under control and practically eliminated as a public health problem in these countries.

Rotary International launched PolioPlus, a global effort to immunize the world’s children against polio, in 1985. This was followed by the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. When the GPEI started, polio paralyzed more than 1000 children worldwide every day. Since then, more than 2.5 billion children have been immunized against polio thanks to the cooperation of more than 200 countries and 20 million volunteers.
The GPEI is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six core partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This coalition unites health workers, governments, donors and global leaders behind the vision of a world where children are forever safe from the threat of polio.
Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.

The Plus

We’re doing so much more than eradicating polio. When we talk about PolioPlus, there are many added benefits the program brings. The “plus” is something else that is provided as a part of the polio eradication campaign. It might be a hand-operated tricycle or access to water. It might be additional medical treatment, bed nets, or soap. A 2010 study estimates that vitamin A drops given to children at the same time as the polio vaccine have prevented 1.25 million deaths by decreasing susceptibility to infectious diseases.

Children protected from polio still face other illnesses, and in Borno, malaria kills more people than all other diseases combined. Worldwide, a child dies of malaria every two minutes. To prevent its spread, insecticide-treated bed nets are often distributed for free during polio immunization events. In 2017, the World Health Organization, one of Rotary’s partners in the GPEI, organized a campaign to deliver antimalarial medicines to children in Borno using polio eradication staff and infrastructure. It was the first time that antimalarial medicines were delivered on a large scale alongside the polio vaccine, and the effort reached 1.2 million children. Rotary and its partners also distribute soap and organize health camps to treat other conditions. The pluses vary from one area to another. When they know something else is coming, reluctant families will bring their children out to have them immunized.

PolioPlus Society

District 5110 in 2012 established  the PolioPlus Society to increase sustainable giving to PolioPlus with a  minimum annual gift of $100. The PolioPlus Society encourages: member support around the globe, continued giving at higher levels, and allows Districts to thank, steward and cultivate its most generous givers.

If you would like to join in to support this project, download the application by selecting the button below.

For more information, visit the Rotary International website.