End Polio Now
Kudos to Rotary for its Fight to End Polio!
A new book has been published in the field of public health highlighting Rotary’s role in the global effort to wipe out polio. It places it in the context of humanity’s relentless struggle to contain the world’s epidemics. Entitled, “Health of Nations: The Campaign to End Polio and Eradicate Epidemic Diseases,” the author Karen Bartlett surveys the global landscape of epidemics past, present and future. ”Who decided to rid the world of polio? Not politicians or global health organizations … process was started by Rotary International, a network more used to enjoying convivial dinners, raising money for local good causes and organizing floats to carry Santa Claus around suburban neighborhoods at Christmas.” (We have come a long way!)The author explains how the world community doubted both the idea of a campaign targeting a single disease and Rotary’s capacity as a volunteer organization to execute it. Bartlett states, “Polio eradication is a twentieth-century dream, conceived by idealists and driven by big international institutions and mass mobilizations of volunteers, working together to make a better world for all … It must succeed or fail, however in a twenty-first century marked by factionalism, religious intolerance and rising inequality.”
How different our image is today as we are almost there. Only 5 cases have been reported this year to date!! Your contribution and support has enabled this to happen. Thank you..