Posted on Aug 30, 2017

Rotary Club of Mineral Wells Treasurer Dan Steele, left, and President David Cairone hold the banner the club received Aug. 19 for 100 percent membership contribution to Rotary International's "End Polio Now" campaign.

The Mineral Wells chapter was one of three out of the 70 clubs in Rotary District 5790 to earn the distinction, announced and presented at a district educational seminar in Fort Worth on Aug. 19.

On Wednesday, Steele presented local members with more information about polio and Rotary International's nearly four-decade effort to eradicate it – which is almost reality as a handful of cases continue to occur in just several countries, including Pakistan and Syria.

Rotary International is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.2 million members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Polio's eradication is one of the organization's longest-standing and most significant efforts. Along with its partners, Rotary International has helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries, reducing polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide.

Polio is a virus is spread person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. While there is no cure, there is a safe, and effective, vaccine.

In 1979, Rotary International began its fight against polio with a multi-year project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. In 1985, Rotary International launched PolioPlus, the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative, with an initial fundraising target of $120 million.

When Rotary International and the World Health Organization launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were an estimated 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries. Polio was eliminated from the Americas in 1994.

Rotarians have raised over $1 billion toward the fight to eradicate polio. Since 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has matched Rotary's financial efforts, and today polio donations through Rotary International are triple-matched by the Gates' foundation.

When polio is eradicated globally, it will be just the second disease eliminated from the face of the Earth. Concerns are that if the virus is not eliminated from the three remaining endemic countries, it could again spread. Rotary remains committed to reaching every child with the vaccine.

To donate, and have it tripled by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, go to https://www.endpolio.org/donate.