The creation of Rotary’s PolioPlus program in 1985 sealed a promise: to eradicate polio from the world so no child will ever have to fear being paralyzed by the disease. It is an audacious goal. As International PolioPlus Committee Chair Mike McGovern said recently, “Polio is our moonshot.” Thanks to the tenacity of Rotary members and our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we are in the last, though most difficult mile of this journey.
With polio cases down 99.9% since 1988 and wild polio cornered to just two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it would be easy to say, “Polio eradication is just too hard and taking too long. This is good enough.” It’s true that we are facing extraordinary challenges right now with rising geopolitical tensions, humanitarian crises, conflicts, and reductions in development and foreign aid funding. We are trying to reach children in some of the hardest-to-reach and most difficult-to-operate places in the world. All while also fighting against the rapid spread of misinformation that makes families hesitant to immunize their children.