A Community Effort to End Polio

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This July, Rotary Clubs across Southeastern Pennsylvania came together at the Reading Phillies baseball game to raise funds for polio eradication. Through ticket sales and the Gates Foundation’s 2:1 match, Rotary District 7450 raised $6,500 to vaccinate 2,166 children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Why Afghanistan and Pakistan?

While polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent worldwide, wild poliovirus remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan and continues to threaten communities with low immunization coverage.

Continuing the fight to keep other countries polio-free is crucial. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.

Rotary’s Focus

Rotary’s focus is on reaching every child with vaccines and responding quickly to outbreaks, so the hard-won progress is not lost. Continued support remains essential until polio is fully eradicated everywhere—because polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere.

To learn more about how you can support Rotary’s End Polio Now efforts, visit RotaryPHL.org/fighting-disease.