Rotary is an international community that brings together leaders who step up to take on the world’s toughest challenges, locally and globally.
The eradication of polio is one of Rotary’s longest standing and most significant
efforts. Along with our partners, we have helped immunize more than 2.5
billion children against polio in 122 countries. We have reduced polio
cases by 99.9 percent worldwide and we won’t stop until we end the
disease for good.
Eradicating a disease is a big job and we need your help. For World Polio
Day, October 24, the Rotary Club of Port Orford raised $2,271.92 to fight
polio. We hope you will make a contribution to “PolioPlus” to help us reach
our $3000 goal by the end of the year.
Five Reasons Why We Must Eradicate Polio
- TO IMPROVE LIVES. Today, 19 million people who would otherwise be paralyzed by polio are walking, and 1.5 million people who would otherwise have died are alive.
- TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year. A polio-free world will be a healthier world for children everywhere.
- TO IMPROVE CHILD HEALTH. Polio surveillance networks and vaccination campaigns also monitor children for other health problems, like vitamin deficiency and measles, so we can address them sooner.
- TO LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS. The global effort to eradicate polio has already saved more than $27 billion in healthcare costs since 1988 and expects to save $14 billion more by 2050.
- TO MAKE HISTORY. Polio eradication will be one of history’s greatest public health achievements, with polio following smallpox to become only the second human disease eradicated from the world.
TRIPLE YOUR IMPACT
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation continues to
match every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication 2-to-1, up to $50 million
per year. In other words, your donation of $25 is matched by $50 from the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation yielding a total contribution of $75 to fight
polio. That also means our Rotary Club of Port Orford donation of $3000 is
matched with $6000 totaling $9000 to fight polio.
