End Polio Now Campaign

Polio News

From the desk of PDG June Cathcart

District Chair for Polio Plus 2008-09

END POLIO NOW - Car Magnets Editor: Herbert, Dan

We are pleased to announce the END POLIO NOW - Car Magnet Program in response to the challenge issued by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . The Gates Foundation has committed $100 million toward polio eradication with a challenge to all Rotary clubs to collectively match that gift.

The Rotary Clubs of Muskoka in District 7010 have issued a challenge to all Rotary Clubs to raise funds for Polio Eradication. Washago Rotary event organizer Janet Stead says "Our goal is to sell at least one End Polio Now - Car Magnet to every Rotary member in Canada." The cost of the 8 cm x 10 cm magnets is $2 each. Stead suggests that clubs order enough to supply all members of their Rotary Club by either selling them to members or giving them away. Stead says "At $2 each, it's a no brainer, and all proceeds will go toward ending Polio Worldwide."

Rotary, a volunteer service made a commitment to immunize the world's children against polio in 1985 and became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative three years later. The other partners are the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.
To date, Rotary has contributed nearly $700 million to the eradication effort, an amount that will grow to more than $850 million by the time the world is certified polio-free.

With nearly 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas, Rotary reaches out to national governments worldwide to generate crucial financial and technical support for polio eradication. Since 1995, the advocacy efforts of Rotary and its partners have helped raise more than $3 billion in vital funding from donor governments.

Rotary clubs also provide "sweat equity" on the ground in polio-affected communities, which helps ensure that leaders at all levels remain focused on the eradication goal. Over the years, Rotary club members have volunteered their time and personal resources to reach more than two billion children in 122 countries with the oral polio vaccine.

Thanks to Rotary and its partners, the number of polio cases has been slashed by more than 99 percent, preventing five million instances of childhood paralysis and 250,000 deaths. When Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children annually. In 2007, fewer than 2,000 cases were reported worldwide.

But the polio cases represented by that final 1 % will be the most difficult and expensive for a variety of reasons, including geographical isolation, worker fatigue, armed conflict, and cultural barriers.

The bottom line is this: As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, all children - wherever they live - remain at risk.

To order these magnets please go to the link below. Have fun with this fundraising idea

www.washagorotary.ca .