End Polio Now
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Current Projects
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In 1985, Rotary launched Polio Plus, an initiative to completely eradicate polio from the world. At its height in 1988, the polio virus was infecting 350,000 people in 125 countries every year. The disease caused by polio cripples and kills people and has the greatest effects on children under five years old. Since then, Rotary and its partners (mainly the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the US Centers for Disease Control, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) have reduced polio infections by 99% and now polio is only endemic in three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. The fight is not over, and polio is only a plane ride away for any of the world's children. Our club continues to support awareness and fundraising for the campaign to End Polio Now.