24 October 2018 Update

Greetings Rotarians:

 

See attached and below for the polio report for 10/24/18.  Two additional cases of polio in Afghanistan, bringing the yearly total to 22.  Only one new cVDPV case this week.

 

As we celebrated World Polio Day, we were aware of 20 cases of polio for the year.  These two additional cases have brought us even with the worldwide total last year, and realistically it seems likely that in the remaining two months of the year we will see additional cases, meaning that this year we will actually see an increase in cases from the previous year.

 

While this is not good news, this is a scenario we have seen before.  In 2012, we saw 223 cases of polio.  In 2013, this number almost doubled to 416.  A massive vaccination campaign was implemented, and by 2015, the number of cases had dropped to 74.

It seems extremely unlikely that we will see a doubling of last year’s polio cases.  Indeed, we may end the year with only a few additional cases from 2017.  We certainly hope so.  But, we know the solution to polio eradication is the continued diligence in vaccinations, and monitoring our vaccination supply chain from manufacture to administration to assure we are providing viable, effective vaccinations, particularly in the most stressed regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

 

Those efforts will require diligence and funding – funding provided by events like the many World Polio events you have all just undertaken.  Let’s celebrate our success in building awareness during World Polio Day, and for our additional fundraising. 

 

Rather than make this a once-a-year commitment, however, let’s continue to remind our districts and our clubs of the ongoing need for Rotarian funding (matched 2 to 1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).  Our need to vaccinate is year round; not just on October 24.  With your help, by this time next year we’ll be celebrating better statistics than we’re seeing this year! 

 

Thanks for all you do in the eradication of polio.

 

--Ken