Rotary clubs in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI), and the rest of the world, have succeeded in raising USD$200 million in new funding for polio eradication.
The fundraising milestone was reached in response to a USD$355 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, set in 2007, which would be given if Rotary had raised USD$200m by June this year. All funds have been earmarked to support polio immunisation activities in affected countries where this vaccine-preventable disease continues to paralyse children.
In addition to delivering the promised USD$355m challenge, an additional USD$50m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being committed to the global fight against polio. This brings the total funding to USD$610m for polio eradication.
Rotary members not only reached into their own pockets to support the challenge, they engaged their communities in a variety of creative fundraising projects, such as Thanks for Life and other community based events. As has been reported previously the Rotary Club of Douglas has engaged with schools on the Island, and the wider local community and has raised some ?14,000 in the last two years in support of Rotary’s End Polio Now Campaign, which represents 70,000 children being able to live free from the danger of contracting polio. The Rotary Club of Douglas continues with its fund raising despite the achievement of Rotary succeeding in its US$200 Million Challenge.
RIBI President Burman said: “Raising this incredible amount is thanks to the support of our communities. Rotary is very much part of the community and seeks to support it but we also need the community to support us and I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped to stop polio. Every time someone donates to Rotary's End Polio Now campaign, we take another step closer to saying goodbye to the disease and saving children from a lifetime of crippling pain.”
Since 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99 percent, from about 350,000 infections annually to fewer than 650 cases reported so far for 2011. The wild poliovirus now remains endemic, meaning its transmission has never been stopped, in only four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. However, India on January 13th this year marked a full calendar year without a case, paving the way for its possible removal from the endemic list.
Other countries remain at risk for polio cases imported from the endemic countries. In Africa in 2011, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo had significant outbreaks. Also in 2011, a small cluster of polio cases in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was attributable to a virus from Pakistan.
As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high. The fight goes on. Every penny counts.
If you would like to be involved, or want to know how to make a donation contact Kevin Kneen at kazbar@manx.net or visit www.douglasrotary.org.
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