Phil Mahoney, the District Chair for Rotary International’s Polio Plus program spoke on a timely topic: Vaccinations. Not COVID, but rather Polio. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 Billion and countless volunteer hours to protect over 3 billion children in 122 countries from the paralyzing disease. Phil reviewed the history of polio in the 20th Century including the groundbreaking Saulk vaccine released in 1955 and the Sabin Oral Vaccine in 1962. These vaccines were so successful that there were no more cases in the US by 1979. This was the year that Rotary started it's Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The campaign started in the Philipines. In 1985 there were 350,000 polio cases around the world. Last year there were only cases of wild polio virus (WPV1) in Afghanistan (20), Pakistan (2), and Mozambique (7) for a total of 29 cases. In July 2022, CDC was notified of a case of polio caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) in an unvaccinated individual from Rockland County, New York, and is consulting with the New York State Department of Health on their investigation. Public health experts are working to understand how and where the individual was infected and provide protective measures, such as vaccination services to the community to prevent the spread of polio to under- and unvaccinated individuals. The vaccine-derived poliovirus is another issue that Rotary International is working on. The number of these cases worldwide has decreased from 1,113 in 2020 to 700 in 2021 and 449 so far this year. Phil says while Polio is eradicated in many countries it’s important to continue the campaign. Since the COVID pandemic occupied the world, including Rotary International, in recent years, there is now an effort to bring the Polio Plus program back to the forefront of Rotary Clubs in our area. Phil is asking for each member to contribute $100 per year to really give a boost to this vital program. |