Members of Rotary International have been working on the eradication of polio for over 30 years.
Rotary Club of Tsawwassen members embraced World Polio Day last month with guest speakers Chris and Penny Offer. The Offers shared their experience of participating in a recent National Immunization Day in India, where over 170 million children needed to be vaccinated in just one day.
In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in over 125 countries around the world; in 2015, there were 37 cases in only two countries.
The last time the world saw the elimination of a disease like polio was the eradication of small pox during a worldwide campaign from 1966 to 1980.
Every child in the world needs to be vaccinated to effectively kill the virus so it never appears again. Rotary and the World Health Organization are so close to achieving this goal that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is offering to match every dollar raised by Rotarians with two extra dollars and the Canadian government is also matching two-toone.
Tsawwassen Rotarians recently donated over $8,700 to the cause, which turns into $43,500 with matching donations, according to John Charbonneau, foundation director of the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen. That means over 51,000 children will receive the vaccine.
"Our club is so well known for our local work in the community, but that is only a part of the story," said club president Shane Todhunter. "Rotary makes an impact worldwide coming together to tackle ambitious goals like the eradication of polio. I was astounded by the support our members showed recently for this truly notable cause."
More information on the End Polio Now Campaign can be found at www.endpolio.org.
