There was a time, not so long ago, when polio was a dreaded word. The disease had a significant mortality rate and those who contacted it were at risk of a lifetime of disability. With the introduction of the Salk vaccine (injected) in 1953 and the Sabin (oral) vaccine in 1953, the world changed for the better. At least for those in the first world.
Rotary's efforts have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But continued unrest in these regions and societal issues continue to threaten that success. Prasad has a bottle of champagne sitting on ice waiting for the day when polio is officially eradicated from the world. But until then, the job is not done.
Please contribute to Rotary's Polio Plus Fund: https://my.rotary.org/en/polioplus-fund