It has been four months since the last wild polio virus case was found. We are making progress and we all need to understand that.
Bill Gates has recommitted to the 2:1 match program for the next two years.
Public health service surveillance programs around the world continue to show occasional findings of the virus in sewage areas. You probably heard about the incident in the state of New York, and Montreal recently had a positive sample. Mozambique has had a case traced to Pakistani visitors. This all reenforces the need for ongoing active immunization programs.
The key to polio eradication is
to rapidly interrupt the remaining chains of wild poliovirus transmission in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Finishing all transmission of wild poliovirus here—the last global endemic reservoir of wild poliovirus—is the first crucial step in ensuring a world free of poliovirus. And while it is crucial to manage the risks associated with events like those in New York, London, Israel, Ukraine and other places, we must firmly keep our programmatic focus on the number one epidemiological priority: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In 2023, we need everyone’s help. We invite you to use the call to action “Together, we end polio” to express our collective will to finish the job. We are in a new year and I want to remind all those who pledged to the Polio Plus Society that you are encouraged to continue with a yearly contribution to the plan. There was some talk at zone about creating different levels of contribution, based on the levels of Paul Harris contributions, but as of now, the support on the RI website is not there.
Please encourage your fellow Rotarians to consider joining the Polio Plus Society as new members. Any clubs that need pins, please contact me and I will forward them to the club president.
Paul Stromborg
District 6420 End Polio Now Coordinator
District 6420 End Polio Now Coordinator