We’re delighted that this week the World Health Organisation confirmed that Africa has recorded no new cases of polio in the past year, marking vital steps of eradicating the disease in the continent and being officially declared polio free.
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland has long supported the efforts to end this crippling disease, with Rotarians across the world being involved in a 30-year campaign to help rid the world of polio.
In 1985 we launched PolioPlus the first global initiative to immunise children against polio. Since the initiative began we have contributed more than $1.4 billion to efforts to end the disease.
The last case of polio reported in Africa was in Somalia on 11th August 2014, and last month it was announced that Nigeria would shortly be taken off the list of countries where polio is endemic. When Nigeria and the entire African region go three years without a case of polio, WHO will certify them as polio-free, as happened in 2014 when WHO declared India and its Southeast Asia region polio-free.
Peter Davey, President for Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, commented: “It is extraordinary that Africa is advancing to becoming polio free, a vision we have long hoped for. When Rotary began fighting polio 30 years ago, we never imagined that people would still be suffering from this terrible disease, one that is easily preventable.
“Our members have worked tirelessly over the years to help raise money and provide vaccinations to children in polio stricken countries, and although this news is encouraging our work is far from over. Pakistan and Afghanistan are still recording cases of the disease and we’ll continue our work in Africa to ensure they can stay free from the endemic.”
In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio annually, in 125 countries — about 1,000 cases per day. Rotary and its partners have reduced that figure by more than 99.9 percent, and in 2014, there were fewer than 400 cases in the entire world.
