As a recent case of Polio in Malawi sadly reminds us, children around the world are only safe from this cruel disease when every child is vaccinated. The case in Malawi is known to have come from Pakistan; with Afghanistan, one of only two countries where Polio is still endemic. Malawi will need a swift response to activate vaccination teams on the ground. Help us to help End Polio. Your contribution will be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and will go to an exceptional cause that has, since 1988, seen a 99.9% reduction of polio cases, worldwide.

Waterfront Rotary is serious about supporting raising funds for the eradication of Polio. This has been our mission since June Webber project-managed the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign from February - June 2010 ahead of the Soccer World Cup. 24 - 30 April is World Immunisation week - we cannot take our eye off the ball until the job is done. NID's continue. We need to support this initiative until our promise to the children of the world is fulfilled - that we have eradicated Polio from the face of the earth.

Every dollar we raise will be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Please consider supporting this cause and eradicating the disease forever.

Once endemic in more than 100 countries, polio today has a foothold in just two: Afghanistan and Pakistan. At its peak, the infectious disease killed or paralyzed hundreds of thousands of people annually, but breakthroughs in vaccines and public health programs have made remarkable progress. A 2014 decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it an international health emergency sought to buttress the global response, and the designation remains in place as health agencies work to eradicate the disease.

However, there are challenges to vaccinating the world’s remaining unprotected children: some communities strongly oppose vaccination efforts, and polio workers have come under attack by militants. The disease’s reemergence in Malawi in 2021, just a year after Africa was declared polio-free, prompted a regional immunization campaign. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has sparked fears of polio’s return there, as the Russian invasion has halted a vaccination campaign launched in response to an outbreak. (Source: Claire Felter and Danielle Renwick writing on CFR.org)

The Waterfront Rotary Club has a long association with The Rotary Foundation's (TRF) efforts to eradicate polio a goal which they are 'this close' to achieving.

Transmitted from person to person, polio is an infectious disease that causes irreversible paralysis and even death. Though no cure for polio exists, safe and effective vaccines can protect people from contracting the disease. Since earnest eradication efforts began in the mid-1990s, polio has been eliminated in more than 120 countries.

In 2010, to coincide with the Soccer World Cup, Waterfront Rotary Charter Member, June Member, championed a project to "Kick Polio out of Africa". A soccer ball, signed by dignitaries in Cape Town, including the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and then Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato, began a transcontinental journey from Cape Town to Cairo.

We'll post more about this remarkable journey, and the equally remarkable eradication of Polio in Africa just ten years after, in 2020.

A huge thank you to the Rotary Club of Newlands for the Club's contribution to Ending Polio. You can learn more about the Club at www.newlands.org.za.

There have been only two wild-polio cases this year. We're close. So Close.....

Please join us in supporting Rotary's efforts to End Polio Now. As one of Rotary's more than 35,000 Clubs, internationally, we unequivocally support our organisation's No 1 philanthropic goal. More than this, with the Covid experience still front of mind, we know that vaccines work. Any contribution toward this cause will be most welcome. Thank you.

What is Rotary's No 1 philanthropic goal? You got it. The eradication of Polio. We promised. And we will. If you can help our fundraising efforts, that would be wonderful.

Have you ever felt like you wanted to give up? Watch Polio vaccinator, Grace Sadiku's, story, here. If nothing else, fast forward to 27:19 and then decide.