World Polio Day: Rotary continues to lead fight against the disease

"In the summer of 1916, New York's playgrounds stood empty. No children splashed in public swimming pools; none sold lemonade on the sidewalks …" So writes author Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs in Jonas Salk - A Life, the biography of the man revered for his discovery of the polio vaccine in April 1955. Poliomyelitis would plague the world for the next 40 years. To honor Dr. Salk's October birth month, Rotary International established October 24th as World Polio Day in 1988, partnering with the World Health Organization and others to spearhead the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). This unprecedented public/private partnership became the largest international public health initiative in public health history. At the time, 350,000 cases of polio were reported every year. Today, because of this partnership, more than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated. "Rotary was the first to envision a world without polio – and today, we have the tools and knowledge to make that vision a reality," said philanthropist Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation. Gates' late father, William H. Gates Sr., was a keynote speaker at one of the Rotary International Conventions, where he had warm words for Rotarians. "Rotary is one of the finest organizations on the planet. You are a massive collection of energetic volunteers steeped in local values. An army of activists who place service above self." William relayed a personal story. He explained the joy he felt when he learned his wife was pregnant with their first child was mixed with fear. The year was 1954, one year before Salk announced his discovery of the polio vaccine. William had visions of his daughter hooked up to an iron lung. Fortunately, this did not happen. But William's fear became a reality for the parents of my two friends, Larry Rolufs, a member of the Rotary Club of Auburn, and my daughter's mother-in-law, Mary Pat. In 1940, when Mary Pat was 6 years old, she tried to get out of bed one morning, fell to the floor and couldn't get up. Larry was born the year Mary Pat contracted polio, and six years later, he also suffered from the devastating disease. I learned he was visiting family in Elk Grove. "I sat on the ground to play and then couldn't get back up." His legs were too weak to hold him. Today, because of the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there has been a 99-percent reduction in polio cases worldwide since 1988. But despite this momentous progress, polio remains a threat. The wild polio virus still exists in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. But why do Americans need to care when the number of polio cases is so low, and the wild virus only exists in two countries that are thousands of miles away? The answer is that polio anywhere is a risk to children everywhere. The disease is highly contagious and spreads from person to person, attacking the brain and spinal cord. High levels of vaccination coverage, along with surveillance, must be maintained to stop polio transmission. Now that we know enough to care, how can each of us help? William Gates understood how overwhelming global issues can be. "It's not that people don't care, "he explained. "It's that, when faced with the enormity of problems like disease, poverty and starvation, they don't know what to do." He went on to say how organizations such as Rotary provide a way for people to collectively convert their resources into results using their "wallets, legs and lungs." At the 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary, his son, Bill, spoke via video urging the audience to continue their support, "… If we all maintain our commitment and keep funding the solutions we know work, then soon, no family will have to live in fear of this horrific disease ever again." Rotary reaffirmed its financial commitment by pledging $50 million a year for the next three years. The Gates Foundation will match this with $2 for every $1 pledged by Rotary. This joint funding translates into $450 million over the next three years to support the eradication of polio. And it's critical these efforts continue. If they were to stop today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze 200,000 children each year, including those in the United States. Eradication means zero cases – all 8.2 billion people on the planet free from polio. And the eradication of polio is possible. For 3,000 years, hundreds of millions died from smallpox. Global vaccination and disease surveillance eradicated smallpox in 1980, making it the first disease to be globally eradicated. With continued support, polio eradication can be the second. This global effort, and a variety of projects that benefit the Auburn community, is supported by five local Rotary Clubs: Rotary Club of Auburn, Gold Country Rotary, Auburn Sunset Club, Sierra Passport Club and Rotaract of the Confluence. Each club focuses on specific areas of community service, and all are nonpolitical, nonreligious and open to all cultures, races and creeds. On World Polio Day, Oct. 24, Rotary members worldwide will celebrate the progress of eradicating polio, and a commitment to continuing the fight. To learn more, go to www.rotary.org/en/rotary-projects-around-globe-october-2025.