WHAT IS POLIOPLUS?
Ending polio is Rotary’s main humanitarian goal, and PolioPlus is the program that supports these efforts.
It was launched in 1985 with help from Dr. Albert Sabin, the developer of the oral polio vaccine, as a worldwide program to protect children from the paralyzing consequences of polio. Rotary later became a founding member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Since then, the incidence of wild polio cases has decreased by about 99.9% and the wild poliovirus remains endemic in just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The processes Rotary helped build to fight polio have also been used to protect communities from COVID-19 and other diseases. This illustrates the PLUS in PolioPlus.
But polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. Only global eradication will ensure that no child suffers its devastating effects ever again.
Learn more about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate this disease at endpolio.org.