Almost all the countries of the world are “Polio free ”. The credit not only goes to the two great scientists and philanthropists and Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, both discoverers of a vaccine that bears their name, but also to the awareness campaign and dissemination of their vaccines.
One Rotarian in particular, the industrialist and philanthropist Sergio Mulitsch di Palmemberg, endeavored to study the feasibility and management of the mass vaccination project.
In 1979 he started the first vaccination campaign in the Philippines by purchasing 500.000 doses of vaccine thanks to the commitment of Rotary Clubs.
After he gained the esteem and friendship of Albert Sabin, also a Rotarian of the Club of Cincinnati (USA), a real collaboration between the two.
In 1985, Rotary International took over the e initiative launched the “POLIO PLUS” program which later became “END POLIO NOW “.
On October 24 each year, Rotary celebrates the world day for polio eradication . Rotary has been committed to eradicating this deases for over 30 years and unbelieveble progress has been made in the struggle the World polio-free forever.
As a founding partner of the Global Initiative for polio eradication, Rotary has helped reduce cases of polio by more than 99.9 percent.
But today it is essential to eliminate polio from the last three Countries where it remains endemic and keep other countries free from polio, because if all efforts to eradicate it stopped today, within 10 years, polio could cripple up to 200,000 children every year.
200 COUNTRIES INVOLVED
20 MILLION VOLUNTEERS
25 BILLION CHILDREN VACCINATED
$ 17 BILLION IN INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS
ONE GOAL: A POLIO FREE WORLD!