On World Polio Day Evanston based Rotary International Gives 40.4 Million To End Polio Worldwide

Live Event World Polio Day 2015
in New York City

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One Rotary Center, Evanston, IL 60201

 

On October 23, World Polio Day, Rotary International announced it is giving $40.4 million to end polio around the world. In a live event, Rotary International and UNICEF will join forces in a live event to announce the donation that will support immunization activities and surveillance spearheaded by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

The event will stream live online at 6:30 PM (EST). Guests will include Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, celebrity ambassadors, polio survivors, and others.

 

“We are in the final push to end polio, but as long as the disease exists anywhere in the world, all children are at risk,” said Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee Chair Michael McGovern. “With just two endemic countries remaining – Pakistan and Afghanistan –we must continue to raise awareness and funds needed to end this paralyzing disease. Our grants show Rotary’s commitment to staying the course until we wipe out polio forever.”

 

Angelique Kidjo, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and activist from Benin, will perform a song and debut her newest music video dedicated to ending polio.

 

Archie Panjabi, Emmy Award winning-actress best known for her role on “The Good Wife,” will chronicle the successful strides Rotary has made in its fight against polio.

 

Special online appearances from Actress Kristen Bell, WWE superstar John Cena and others will highlight their work spreading awareness about the paralyzing disease.

 

Dr. Jennifer Berman, co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television show “The Doctors,” will discuss herd immunity.

 

Live remarks by Anthony Lake, executive director of United Nations Children’s Fund, and Dr. John Vertefeuille, polio eradication branch chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Each year to bring more awareness to their mission, Rotary International ask celebrities to lend their voice to the cause.

 

Last year’s End Polio campaign ambassador, Tessanne Chin, performed at the World Polio Day 2014 celebration in Chicago.

 

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In September, the World Health Organization declared Africa’s last polio-endemic country, Nigeria, polio-free, leaving only two countries which have never stopped the virus: Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1988, when Rotary and its partners committed to eradicating the disease, polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children per year in 125 countries more than 1,000 per day. Since that time, the number of polio cases has been reduced by 99.9%, with less than 50 cases in two countries to date in 2015.

 

Rotary is joined in the fight to end polio by its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership that also includes the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

  About Rotary  

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. Visit rotary.org and endpolio.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio.