Thanks to the Municipality of Brighton who declared; Thursday October 24th, 2024 as World Polio Day and this morning, in front of the Municipal Office we raised an End Polio Now Flag.
Polio anywhere is a threat everywhere, and Rotary members from Brighton have long worked to end the paralyzing virus, which will be only the second human disease ever to be eradicated. World Polio Day is a day to raise awareness, funds, and support to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.
Rotary has contributed more than US$2.7 billion to fight polio and countless volunteer hours since launching its PolioPlus program in 1985. In 1988, Rotary joined in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, later joined. When the initiative launched, there were 350,000 cases of polio every year. Today, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9%.
To sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine, Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1 for a total yearly contribution of US$150 million.
Visit Rotary.org and endpolio.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio.
