International Perspective
Rotary announces Sh3.5 Billion to support a Polio-Free World
The Rotary club has committed an additional Sh3.5 billion ($ 35 million ) in grants to support the global effort to end polio , bringing the humanitarian service organization ’ s contribution to Sh10.5 billion ($ 105 million ) in 2016 .
The announcement follows recent reports of three new cases of wild poliovirus in Nigeria : two cases in July , and one in August . The three cases are the first to be detected in Nigeria since July 2014 . With these cases , funding for polio eradication is particularly vital as rapid response plans are now in action in Nigeria and surrounding countries to stop the outbreak quickly and prevent its spread . Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative ( GPEI ) are acting to immunize children in Nigeria and countries in the Lake Chad Basin ( Chad , northern Cameroon , southern Niger and the Central African Republic ).
Nearly one-fourth of the funds Rotary announced today ($ 8.15 million ) will support the emergency response campaigns in this at-risk region , and last month Rotary provided $ 500,000 to immediately assist with the outbreak response .
While significant strides have been made against the paralyzing disease , with just 26 cases reported in 2016 , polio remains a threat in hard-to-reach and underserved areas and conflict zones .
In Kenya , the risks of polio virus infections has been lowered by eliminating one of the three strains of the disease due to aggressive immunization in the past two years .
The wild poliovirus type 2 ( WPV2 ) was officially declared eradicated in the country following the destruction of over 1,000 isolates of the remaining live WPV2 in the Polio laboratory at the Kenya Medical Research Institute ( KEMRI ), Nairobi .
This leaves Scientists with only the poliovirus type 1 and 3 cases , which can strike at any age and can cause severe paralysis .
“ While we are disappointed with the recent news coming out of Nigeria , this situation underscores the extreme importance of widespread immunization campaigns and strong disease surveillance in all countries of the world until polio is fully eradicated ,” said Michael K . McGovern , chair of Rotary ’ s
International PolioPlus Committee . “ This funding will help ensure that Rotary and our GPEI partners are doing all that we can to redouble our efforts and protect the progress in polio-free parts of the world , as well as stop transmission in Pakistan , Afghanistan , and now Nigeria .”
54 November-December 2016