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    Facts and Figures
    • By 2005, Rotary's contributions to the global polio eradication effort will be approximately a half billion dollars. In addition, millions of dollars of in-kind and personal contributions have been made by and through local Rotary clubs and districts for polio eradication activities.
    • Of even greater significance has been the huge volunteer army mobilized by Rotary International. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers at the local level are providing support at clinics or mobilizing their communities for immunization or polio eradication activities.
    • More than one million Rotarians worldwide have contributed toward the success of the polio eradication effort to date.
    • Rotary has committed more than US$438 million for global polio eradication.
    • Rotarians and The Rotary Foundation have contributed, as of 1 July 2001, more than US$28 million to PolioPlus Partners for social mobilization, laboratory, surveillance, and other eradication projects.
    • To date, 122 nations around the world have benefited from PolioPlus grants for polio  immunization and eradication efforts.
    • Today, thanks to the polio eradication initiative, more than four million children who might have been polio victims are walking and playing normally. 
    • More than 500,000 cases of polio are now prevented each year by the efforts of governments and the partnership of the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and theoverseas development agencies of donor nations.
    • As a result of the efforts of Rotary International and its Foundation and those of our partners, nearly two billion children have received oral polio vaccine and are successfully  protected from poliomyelitis.
    • A record 550 million children — almost one-tenth of the world's population — received oral polio vaccine (OPV) in 2000 thanks to accelerated vaccination activities in 82 countries.
    • Every polio-endemic country increased the number of National Immunization Day (NID) rounds and began house-to-house vaccine delivery to reach every child.
    • Since Rotary began its PolioPlus Program, the number of polio-endemic countries has declined from more than 125 in 1985 to 20 at the beginning of 2001. The number of polio cases has declined by more than 99 percent.
    • The annual global savings from polio eradication will be at least US$1.5 billion. This amount is the estimated cost of routine immunization alone and does not include the cost of treatment and rehabilitation of polio victims nor the immeasurable price paid in human suffering by polio victims and their families.
    • A child can be protected against polio for as little as US$0.50 worth of vaccine.
    • The World Health Organization announced in October 2000 a Strategic Plan for Polio Eradication covering the five years (2001-05) leading to certification of a polio-free world.
    • To carry out this Strategic Plan, WHO estimates that US$1 billion is needed from donors. Of this US$1 billion, US$600 million has been pledged or is expected from existing donors. 
    • This leaves a current estimated funding gap of US$400 million. The funding gap must be met by an increased level of contributions from donor governments and from the private sector.
    • Rotary is helping to meet this funding gap through a program of public and private sector advocacy implemented in cooperation with our partners. This advocacy program does not include appeals to Rotary clubs or districts.
    • The donor needs have been calculated by WHO after careful analysis of the costs of implementing, on a timely basis, the Strategic Plan. A failure to interrupt transmission by the end of 2002 could increase the costs of the strategic plan by an additional US$100 million per year.
    • Since 1995 Rotary's Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force has played a major role in decisions by donor governments in polio-free countries to contribute more than US$1 billion for the eradication of polio in polio-endemic countries.
    • In the period July 2000 to December 2001, under the leadership of the Polio Eradication Private Sector Initiative Task Force, The Rotary Foundation and the United Nations Foundation are collaborating in a joint appeal to the private sector, defined as corporations, foundations, and philanthropists, to raise funds for polio eradication needs.
    • Some US$80 million in such gifts has been obtained thus far.
    • Rotary International supports the statement of the World Health Organization (WHO),  United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United Nations Childrens' Fund (UNICEF) that the Polio Eradication Initiative is on track to certify the world polio-free in 2005.
    • In 1988, 10 percent of the world's children lived in polio-free countries; as of 1 July 2001,more than 70 percent are living in polio-free countries.
    • The number of cases of polio has declined by 99 percent since 1988.
    • The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately US$350 million per year is spent on immunizing U.S. children against polio.
    • Rotary is engaged in one specific coalition: the coalition to advocate increasedcontributions by the U.S. government to global polio eradication. The coalition includes The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. 
    • Rotary is the leader. 
    • Rotary is the leading non-governmental contributor.
    • Whenever possible, most of the polio eradication costs are borne by the polio-endemic countries themselves. However, as the battle against polio is taken to the poorest, least-developed nations on earth and those in the midst of civil conflict, up to 100 percent of the NID and other polio eradication costs must be met by external donor sources. 

      • Major polio-specific contributions have been made by the following governments: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.