| Back to List of Polio Eradication Products | ||||
| Polio Eradication - Rotary and PolioPlus | ||||
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Since the early 1980's, Rotary has taken a significant leadership role in the fight against polio. Through its PolioPlus program, Rotary has become the largest non-governmental financial contributor to the effort, with over US$500 million having been raised by 2005. |
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| POLIO | ||||
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Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease caused by the polio virus. The disease can strike at any age, but typically affects children under three. The virus is passed through poor hygiene, entering through the mouth, then multiplying inside the throat and intestines. As it multiplies, it destroys the motor neurons that activate muscles, rendering them non-functional, ie paralysed. The threat of the "iron lung" terrified parents until the Salk and Sabin vaccines led to eradication of polio in the western hemisphere by 1994. |
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Electron micrograph of the polio virus. Image courtesy of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. |
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| CURRENT STATUS | ||||
| Since the World Health Organisation's program launch in 1988, the number of cases of polio has decreased by 99%, from 350,000 in 1988 to fewer than 1,900 in 2002. Today, there are seven countries in which this cruel disease remains endemic, presenting serious challenges if polio is to join smallpox as the only eradicated disease known to mankind. Almost eradicated isn't good enough in the global community. Polio is either eradicated or it isn't, in which case the threat of re-emergence will always look large. | ||||
| FUNDING | ||||
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In the final phases of the campaign, adequate funding remains the greatest obstacle to achieving the goal of a polio-free world. To help in this regard, a portion of every sale of the Polio Eradication editions of necktie, scarf and BioNote designs is committed to the PolioPlus effort of Rotary International. |
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| (information courtesy of Infectious Awareables and Rotary International). | ||||
