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Submitted by: Blaine Johnson, District Governor 2018-2019On October 24 we celebrate the sixth annual World Polio Day. Rotary International will be live streaming the event from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this year. You can find more information at https://www.endpolio.org/world-polio-day.
This year has proven to be a difficult battle as we Drop to Zero. To date there have been 19 cases of the wild polio virus reported - fifteen in Afghanistan and four in Pakistan. Last year at this time only 11 cases were reported; a reminder of why we must be tenacious in seeing this campaign to the end. National Immunization Days in August alone vaccinated 9.1 million children in Afghanistan.
There remain three endemic countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. The last case of the wild polio virus reported in Nigeria was August 2016, and we look forward to the day when Nigeria will be declared polio free.
Rotary’s focus in October is Economic and Community Development. We often overlook the economic impact that the End Polio Now campaign has made.
Over $9 billion has been invested in polio eradication since 1988. The World Health Organization estimates that we have seen economic impact of over $27 billion as a result of the efforts so far. That is a 300% return on our investment. In addition, Rotary administers vitamin A drops in conjunction with polio vaccines to prevent vitamin A deficiency which can cause visual impairment in the form of night blindness and may increase the risk of illness and death from childhood infections, including measles and those causing diarrhoea. WHO estimates economic benefits of an additional $25 billion in benefit over the next twenty years. At least another $17 billion in benefit is estimated for the prevention of vitamin A deficiency.
The economic benefits from the End Polio Now campaign extend beyond reduced treatment costs and gains in productivity. Take for example the story of Nahied below.
The economic return is just one of the reasons that District 5580 has agreed again to contribute 20% of our District Designated Funds to Polio Plus. This amount will be matched in part by The Rotary Foundation and the Gates Foundation. On a local level, our Rotary clubs are making economic impacts through district grants and a variety of other service projects. For instance, the Duluth Harbortown Rotary Club received a grant for the Life House project which supports job training for homeless and street youth. Countless clubs have mentoring programs for young professionals, and there is interest being generated to benefit trades career programs and address the need for skilled workers. Where there is a need, there is Rotary.