The PolioPLUS Society provides consistent funding for polio vaccination programs and improvements in health practices, sanitation, nutrition and the prevention and treatment of other diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, Ebola, etc. whose unchecked presence cultivates opportunity for the spread of highly contagious polio virus mutations. As a Rotarian, your participation in PolioPLUS is critical fuel for the engine of Rotary's decades-long polio eradication effort.Join Up Now!
In 2022, D7930 launched the District's PolioPLUS Society. If you are a Charter Member, please remember to make your annual $100 donation to PolioPLUS now: https://my.rotary.org/donate
And if you haven’t done so before, you can join the PolioPLUS Society now by pledging to donate a minimum of US$100 each year until the world is certified polio free. Enrolling is easy: https://fa.lk/PolioPlusSociety
Joining the PolioPLUS Society is essentially a 2-step process:
1st Step, complete the PolioPLUS Society Form at this link: https://fa.lk/PolioPlusSociety
2nd Step, make your donation. You can choose to donate in various ways, either by credit card online, or by check. If you choose to donate by check, make the check out to “The Rotary Foundation” with “PolioPLUS” in the memo section and submit to your club’s Foundation Chair, who will forward your donation to Rotary International HQ in Evanston together with the appropriate donation form.
If you choose a credit card, go to https://my.rotary.org/donate and choose “Polio Fund.” (To donate online, make sure you have registered on myrotary.org for a My Rotary account for you and your club to receive proper credit. Signing up is quick and easy). You can then:
- Make a one-time donation of $100 (or more) with your credit card by clicking on the “One-time donation” button and choosing the appropriate amount from the boxes below. Remember to donate again next year if you choose this option.
- OR the other choice is what we call the easy or “painless” way to become a PolioPLUS Society member by utilizing the monthly payment option. Click the “Recurring Donation” button. For frequency choose “monthly” and for amount choose “other” and enter $10 in the “enter other amount” box. If you wish to donate more, or quarterly or annually instead, you have those options as well.
No matter how you donate, you will also receive Paul Harris Credit and Major Donor Credit for your contributions.
Why do we still need to raise money for Polio?
Wild Polio Virus (WPF) is not eradicated. It is still endemic in difficult to manage areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are virtually war zones. Furthermore, there are a dozen countries in Africa where vaccine-derived polio variant viruses (cVDPV's) are increasing because of vaccination density shortfalls. As of 2021, only 80% of one-year-olds worldwide have been vaccinated for polio. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), spearheaded by Rotary International, targets vaccinating 99% or more of every population group. When a vaccination campaign falls significantly below this target the opportunity for polio variants to spread is much larger. This is what is occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. As troubling, is the current situation in Gaza, where only a few years ago 99% of the target population was vaccinated, but through a combination of the pandemic impact and current hostilities, the success ratio has dropped dramatically. In recent weeks polio variant viruses have shown up in Gaza wastewater testing, sending a chilling message about a generation already burdened with catastrophic circumstances. The combined message is that we still have a polio crisis.
Reaching Our Targets
Ending polio in a cohort by meeting 99% vaccination targets requires more than vaccine. Eradicating polio involves a vast logistics campaign moving health workers and their support system into challenging areas in remote, often impoverished parts of the world. These health teams depend upon a mobile infrastructure of food, shelter, medical equipment, information technology and transportation, all of which necessitates consistent funding.