Rotary International

This spring, in the wake of Angola’s long and violent civil war, Rotary members helped administer polio vaccines for hundreds of thousands of children in every corner of the war-torn country. A generation after vaccination programs virtually eliminated polio in the United States and the developed world, a different kind of war is underway to finish the job.

It takes just two drops of oral polio vaccine (administered six times) to protect a child forever. But reaching the children with the vaccine is taking two decades of incredible dedication around the world.

The poliovirus attacks the central nervous system, leaving victims with fever, permanent muscle weakness, paralysis and, in extreme cases, death from asphyxiation. The disease spreads easily in crowded populations with poor sanitation, most frequently striking children under age 5.

In 1985, Rotary International made polio eradication its primary international focus, with the hope of eliminating the disease entirely by Rotary’s centennial in 2005. As a major partner with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative—along with UNICEF, the World Health Organization and others—Rotarians in over 160 nations committed more than $500 million to the effort.

But Rotary contributed much more than money. Over the years, more than 1 million Rotarian volunteers immunized more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. Many risk their own lives within war zones and natural disasters. In Somalia, armed guards protected international vaccination workers during continuing conflict. In 2001, several such workers were held captive for several days following a clash during a vaccination effort.

Rotary’s commitment to global health advancement—and especially its efforts to eradicate polio—earned the organization the 2002 Gates Award for Global Health. As the 2005 target date approaches, the global initiative enjoys hard-won but spectacular success, achieving a 99-percent reduction in worldwide cases since 1988. At the end of 2002, only seven countries reported incidents of polio.

India is one of the last bastions for polio; 85 percent of new infections occur there. In January 2002, Rotarians helped organize a National Immunization Day (NID) across the country. NIDs involve massive effort—with massive results. On that single day, 150 million children visited 30,000 immunization posts. During India’s effort, 6,000 children received a dose of polio vaccine every single second. Trains were stopped so that every child on board could receive two drops of oral vaccine through its open windows.

Just as Rotary members scoured the trains that day, they will continue every day until all children are free from risk.