Make History Today
With your help, we can finally end polio for good.
The Disease
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects young children, under the age of 5.
Most know it as poliovirus. The virus is spread person-to-person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine – one which Rotary and our partners used to immunize over 2.5 billion children worldwide.
-Polio mainly affects children under age 5.
-There is no cure, but polio is preventable with a vaccine.
-Only three countries remain endemic.
-We’ve reduced cases by 99.9% since 1988.
-Until we end polio forever, every child is at risk.

The History
Take a look at the recent history and major milestones of polio.
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1894
The first major documented polio outbreak in the United States occurs in Vermont; 18 deaths and 132 cases of permanent paralysis are reported.
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1905
Swedish physician Ivar Wickman suggests that polio is a contagious disease that can spread from person to person, and also recognizes that polio could be present in people who show no symptoms.
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1908
Two physicians in Vienna, Karl Landsteiner and Erwin Popper, announce that polio is caused by a virus.
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1916
A major polio outbreak in New York City kills more than 2,000 people. Across the United States, polio takes the lives of about 6,000 people, and paralyzes thousands more.
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1929
Philip Drinker and Harvard University’s Louis Agassiz Shaw Jr. invent an artificial respirator for patients suffering from paralytic polio — the iron lung.
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1955
A vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk is declared “safe and effective.”
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1960
The U.S. government licenses the oral polio vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin.
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1979
Rotary clubs take on a project to buy and help deliver polio vaccine to more than six million children in the Philippines.
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1985
Rotary International launches PolioPlus, the first and largest internationally coordinated private-sector support of a public health initiative, with an initial fundraising target of US$120 million.
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1988
Rotary International and the World Health Organization launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. There are an estimated 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries.
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1994
The International Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication announces that polio has been eliminated from the Americas.
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1995
Health workers and volunteers immunize 165 million children in China and India in a single week. Rotary launches the PolioPlus Partners program, enabling Rotary members in polio-free countries to provide support to fellow members in polio-affected countries for polio eradication activities.
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2000
A record 550 million children – almost one-tenth of the world’s population – receive the oral polio vaccine. The Western Pacific region, spanning from Australia to China, is declared polio-free.
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2003
The Rotary Foundation raises $119 million in a 12-month campaign. Rotary’s total contribution to polio eradication exceeds $500 million. Six countries remain polio-endemic – Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan.
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2004
In Africa, synchronized National Immunization Days in 23 countries target 80 million children, the largest coordinated polio immunization effort on the continent.
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2006
The number of polio-endemic countries drops to four – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan.
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2009
Rotary’s overall contribution to the eradication effort nears $800 million. In January the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledges $355 million and issues Rotary a challenge grant of $200 million. This announcement will result in a combined $555 million in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
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2011
Rotary welcomes celebrities and other major public figures into a new public awareness campaign and ambassador program called «This Close» to ending polio. Program ambassadors include Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, violinist Itzhak Perlman, cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates, Grammy Award-winning singers Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, and environmentalist Dr. Jane Goodall. Rotary’s funding for polio eradication exceeds $1 billion.
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2012
India surpasses an entire year without a recorded case of polio, and is taken off the polio-endemic list. Only three countries remain polio endemic. Rotary surpasses its $200 Million Challenge fundraising goal more than five months earlier than planned.
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2014
India goes three full years without a new case caused by the wild poliovirus, and the World Health Organization certifies the South-East Asia region polio-free. Polio cases are down over 99% since 1988.

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