Rotary has pledged to raise $ 50 million a year for polio eradication.
World Polio Day is celebrated every 24 October in order to strengthen efforts to eradicate polio through the application of vaccines.
This date was promoted in 1988 by Rotary International. Campaigns are launched each year to raise awareness and help eradicate polio around the world.
There are more than 36,000 Rotary clubs in the world. There are 13 clubs in our country. Diario El Mundo received a visit from two representatives of the Rotary Club San Salvador Sur: Fransheska Audia and Roberto Siegrist, who explained the importance of this “End Polio Now” campaign in the world.
“For more than 30 years, Rotary, through its clubs, has led efforts to eradicate polio around the world. The Polio Plus program was the first initiative to address global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a large scale, ”Siegrist explained.
Audia noted that, as the lead partner in the global polio eradication initiative, Rotary focuses on advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and outreach.
Polio cases have been reduced by 99.9% and only two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan ”. Robert Siegrist, Rotary International
How to donate?
Rotarians around the world have contributed over $ 2.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this crippling disease.
Any donation is important. You can do this by going to: www.enpolio.org or by contacting any Rotarian or Rotary club in your community. For example: on Facebook: Rotary San Salvador Sur.
“If all eradication efforts were stopped today, 10 years from now, polio could cripple up to 200,000 children each year. A polio-free world will be a healthier world for children around the world, ”Siegrist said.
The goal, according to representatives of Rotary International, is the eradication of polio, which they consider “one of the greatest public health successes in history because polio, after smallpox, will become the second human disease to be eradicated in the world” . “.