In 1985, when Rotary announced its worldwide goal of the
eradication of Polio by the year 2005, Rotary’s 100th Anniversary, many
smiled and sighed. It was presumed that, while an ambitious, and profoundly
humanitarian goal of a well-meaning group of professionals, the goal was
simply unattainable. But undaunted, Rotary International and Rotarians
world-wide went to work, initially fund raising, subsequently inoculating
populations of children.
Many of us have memories of family and neighbors who were
afflicted with polio. Many of us too wear the scars of our vaccinations.
Long ago we forgot our fears of this disease. Most of our young have no
experience with Polio and its worldly presence is not part of their reality.
Stories abound in the Rotary world of volunteers being thanked by families
of children receiving the vaccine. One story I heard was told by a polio
survivor and Rotarian who was volunteering in Chad. He tells the story
with tears in his eyes, of having his pant leg tugged upon by a young child,
a polio victim himself, a ‘crawler’ as they are called because of their
inability to walk, who then expressed his thanks for the vaccination of
his younger sister who will not have to suffer as a crawler with Polio
as he.
In fifteen years Rotary has inoculated over 1.5 billion
children, under the age of 5, in 82 countries, using hundreds of thousands
of Rotary volunteers on National Inoculation Days (NIDs). Last year over
550 million children were inoculated on NIDs; one day was particularly
successful with 1.5 million children being reached.
Rotary has brokered cease-fires in countries such as Afghanistan,
Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Sudan to allow
health care workers and volunteers to deliver vaccine to children trapped
in war zones. We’ve see reports of combatants laying down their arms to
assist our volunteers with vaccination. In 2000 Rotary began coordinating
simultaneous NIDs in West, East, Central, and North Africa to assure that
the nomadic tribes are reached effectively.
Are we near success? In 1988 there were 350,000 estimated
cases (perhaps much more because monitoring was not a sophisticated as
today). In 2000 there were 3500 estimated cases. Last year in India, a
country traditionally hard hit by this disease, there were 14 cases. Now
14 doesn’t seem like a lot of cases to be concerned about... unless, of
course, one of those is your child.
In 2001 the eradication goal was declared as 99% complete.
The remaining 1% presents a serious challenge, perhaps the most difficult
in part because of waning 
social and political support for combating a receding disease perceived
as a non threat, reduced funding support with a projected multi million
dollar shortfall, and an increased need for sophisticated monitoring.
The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations
Childrens’ Fund (UNICEF) and the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) have joined Rotary’s PolioPlus initiative. Together, our
goal is to increase awareness of the need to complete the work to assure
the disease is eradicated and not afforded the opportunity of reinfecting
populations as TB has. This awareness will facilitate additional fund raising
on behalf of the project by the Rotary Foundation and the UN Foundation.
A Rotarian from California regularly conducts one striking
awareness campaign. His name is Bob Muchler. Bob, in his early fifties,
tells of spending years in an Iron lung, having Polio as a child. He expresses
thanks to the March of Dimes for their care of him during his fight. Bob,
a determined man, wears the signs of his experience - he walks with a pair
of crutches, and gets around quite well in spite of things. Bob is also
a motorcyclist, and being a Rotarian and a polio survivor he has adopted
the personal crusade of PolioPlus Awareness. Four years ago he saddled
his sidecar equipped motorcycle and visited all of the Capitol cities of
the lower 48 States in 30 days. At each stop he conducted Polio Awareness
press conferences, with the assistance of the local Rotary club. Two years
ago he again trekked for Polio, this time TransCanada; and this year he
circumnavigated the US.
He’s the one who tells the story of the little one in
Chad, he talks of recent Polio outbreaks in the Dominican Republic and
Haiti, and the ease of resurgence Polio will have if we do not complete
our job absolutely 100%. He has experienced this disease and its devastating
effects. He knows the pain and he has seen the need in the world first
hand. After speaking with Bob, one has the clear understanding that we
need to continue, and the expectation that we will succeed. He is personally
responsible for raising over $2 million US for PolioPlus, and has been
awarded 17 Paul Harris Fellowships by Rotary International.
Be sure to read about this year's effort...
Ride AROUND Australia.. They're saying it can't be done...
