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Rotary pedal power helps End Polio Now

Rotary pedal power helps End Polio Now

Ninety Rotarian cyclists from clubs in America adopted pedal power for polio eradication and have raised over USD$375,000. The El Tour de Tucson took riders, including RI General Secretary John Hewko and his wife Marga, through Arizona. The Rotary team was joined by 9,000 riders from around the world completing various course distances. Rotarians have […]

Ninety Rotarian cyclists from clubs in America adopted pedal power for polio eradication and have raised over USD$375,000.

The El Tour de Tucson took riders, including RI General Secretary John Hewko and his wife Marga, through Arizona. The Rotary team was joined by 9,000 riders from around the world completing various course distances.

Rotarians have been taking part in the ride since 2009, when the End Polio Now campaign was designated an official beneficiary of the race, allowing Rotary to enroll cyclists to gather pledges for the campaign. In that first year, 27 cyclists raised USD$35,000. The number has grown steadily since. Rotarians also staffed a water station along the route, and a booth at the finish line where finishing cyclists could gather and learn more about Rotary and polio eradication.

Since 1985, Rotary and its global polio eradication partners have spearheaded the effort to rid the world of the crippling disease. Cases have dropped to an all-time low, there were fewer than 200 worldwide in 2012 as of October and only Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria remain polio-endemic.

In February next year, a team of Rotarians from Great Britain and Ireland will be flying to India to support one of the biggest National Immunisation Day events of the year where 172-milion children will be vaccinated against polio. India has not recorded any new cases since January 2011 and has been removed from the endemic list although it is not officially classed as polio free.

Although there is a lot to celebrate, there is a serious shortfall of USD$700 million for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative which threatens to impede progress. Already, the funding gap has curtailed scheduled immunisation activities in polio-affected countries. If eradication fails and polio returns, hundreds of children could be paralysed by the polio virus.

If you would like to help bring the curtain down on polio and save children’s lives, please contact your local Rotary club and find out how you can be involved with activities in your community. More information about Rotary’s battle to end polio can be found here. You can also donate to End Polio Now.

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