We're so close to eradicating Polio. But to fully eradicate this deplorable disease we still need $1.5 billion to finish the job. Why? Even if the last case of polio is identified this year, a huge amount of work will remain to ensure that it stays "GONE", which means vaccinating children for at least three more years. To ensure that polio is truly eradicated forever, it must be detected. This requires continuous surveillance that is complicated and costly. First doctors and community health workers must monitor children for acute flaccid paralysis and second is the process that involves local authorities collecting samples from sewage systems or in places that don't have adequate sanitation facilities, including rivers and bodies of water near a large group of residents.
In addition, large scale vaccinations are enormous undertakings that require money as well as thousands of volunteers on the ground and in places where the vaccination programs have been successful, the challenge is to locate and vaccinate that small percentage of children who have been missed. The vaccine itself isn't the biggest expense, it's the distribution of the vaccine - i.e. transportation and staffing. A vaccination campaign is almost mind-bogglingly complex. Rotarian's contributions pay for planning by technical experts, large-scale communication efforts to make people aware of the benefits of vaccinations and the dates of the campaign, plus support for volunteers to go door-to-door in large cities as well as in remote areas that may not appear on any map.
Yes, we are 99.9% there. Now is the hardest part and with your help our goal to eradicate polio will be accomplished and celebrated. Thank you for your support.
