24 October is World Polio Day! Are You Ready?
When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. And we remain committed to the end.
Every year on October 24, Rotarians around the world recognize World Polio Day as a way to highlight the efforts made to eradicate this disease and encourage others to join us in our fight.
As World Polio Day 2021 approaches, the Rotary community is getting ready to amplify our message about eradicating polio to protect the world’s children from this devastating disease.
Together, we’ve made tremendous progress. Now it’s time to intensify our fight to make polio the second human disease ever to be eradicated. Last year, the World Health Organization’s African region was certified free of wild poliovirus, showing that eradication is possible even in very difficult circumstances. The wild poliovirus remains endemic in just two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. We can use World Polio Day to advocate for the support we need to end polio in countries where it still paralyzes children.
For some great background information and suggestions on what you can do for World Polio Day, check out Past Rotary International President and 2021-22 Trustee Chair John Germ as he discusses why it is so important for Rotarians to share the story of Rotary's role in our quest to drop to zero; and, learn about ideas and resources that your club and district can leverage to put together a successful event despite the challenging circumstances with the COVID pandemic.
Inspire action
Take action for World Polio Day by promoting the importance of polio eradication, raising funds, and planning events. Let’s engage our communities in the fight against polio — because as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.
Use the World Polio Day Toolkit to find resources and tips for planning activities and promoting a polio-free world. Inspire others to join us by hosting virtual and community events, creating fundraisers, and sharing posts on social media.
Register your club’s participation in World Polio Day to show how Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs around the world are taking action to eradicate polio. If you register your events, fundraisers, and promotions by 14 October, you’ll get early access to a download of Rotary’s World Polio Day Global Update one week before the program will be shown on 24 October on Rotary’s Facebook page and endpolio.org.
Use Raise for Rotary to start an online fundraiser to benefit The Rotary Foundation’s PolioPlus Fund for World Polio Day. Then, share it with your network! The top Raise for Rotary World Polio Day 2021 fundraisers will be featured on My Rotary.
Visit endpolio.org for more information and resources.
Lastly, make sure and register your World Polio Day activities with Zone 34 as part of the 2021-2022 Public Image Citation. Go to the Zone 34 WPD Task website and you can upload photos, reference social media posts and describe what you activity accomplished