Rotary's Fight to End Polio

RI CEO and General Secretary John Hewko speech – 14 June 2012
Child Survival Call to Action -- GAVI Alliance and UN Foundation Shot@Life
Value of Partnerships for Life-saving Vaccines
Washington, DC

Thank you very much. It is my honor and privilege to

be here this evening to represent the 1.2 million men

and women of Rotary -- and our 34,000 Rotary clubs

worldwide.

And I must say that the theme of tonight’s program --

the Value of Partnerships for Life-Saving Vaccines --

is especially appropriate for what I want to speak

about.

Rotary and polio eradication.

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In fact, an appropriate sub-title for a book on

Rotary’s fight to end polio could be, The Value of A

Partnership for Life-Saving Vaccines, because that’s

exactly what it our effort is all about.

As many of you are aware, Rotary is the original

private sector partner in the Global Polio Eradication

Initiative, arguably the most ambitious and most

successful public-private partnership in history.

Our original partners on the public sector side are

the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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More recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

has joined us. And of course the United Nations

Foundation also works closely with us.

And what a partnership this initiative has turned out

to be.

Working together with the world’s governments, we

have succeeded in reducing the incidence of

poliomyelitis by more than 99 per cent. From

350,000 cases a year when the partnership

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launched in 1988 -- to fewer than 70 cases so far

this year.

And what tool have we used to get to this point? A

life-saving vaccine – the oral polio vaccine.

And when I say “life-saving” – I mean it in two ways.

Yes, polio does kill a portion of the children it infects,

so vaccination does – quite literally -- save lives.

But far more often, polio permanently disables and

cripples – robbing children of productive lives,

especially in developing countries where polio

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mainly persists today. So in a more figurative sense,

the vaccine rescues those lives too.

To date, we have reached more than 2.5 BILLION

children with the oral polio vaccine, preventing more

than 7 MILLION cases of childhood paralysis.

And what is the value we place on this effort -- on

this live-saving vaccine used by this unique

partnership?

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In economic terms, experts tell us polio eradication

will yield net benefits estimated at 40 to 50 billion

dollars over the next two decades.

Most of the benefits will accrue in developing

countries, as per capita production goes up and

health care costs drop.

Eradication also will protect the over 9-billion-dollars

the world has invested in the effort so far. Of that

total, more than 1 billion dollars has come from

Rotary club members around the world – grassroots

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business and community leaders committed to

ending polio once and for all.

But the real value is not about money. It is about

children and the consequences of what could

happen if we don’t push ahead and end polio now.

Polio is a tenacious disease perfectly capable of

staging a global resurgence if we let down our guard.

As many as 200,000 children a year could be

infected.

We cannot let that happen.

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That’s the reason that the World Health Assembly

last month declared polio to be “a programmatic

emergency for global public health” and the Global

Polio Eradication Initiative launched its Emergency

Action Plan.

It may seem odd to declare an emergency when we

are 99 percent toward our goal – but an emergency

is what we truly face if we don’t take advantage of

the best opportunity we’ve ever had to finish off polio

once and for all.

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Polio cases are at an all-time low.

Only three countries remain on the polio-endemic list:

Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

India, which only two years was an epicenter of polio,

was declared polio-free in February – a huge

milestone.

Yet, we face a funding gap of almost $1 billion that

MUST be closed quickly if we are to carry out the

polio vaccination efforts needed to stop transmission

of the wild poliovirus in the endemic and at-risk

countries this year.

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So we stand at a tipping point. If we push forward --

as we must – we will achieve history by making polio

only the second human disease to be eradicated

since smallpox in 1979.

If we squander this opportunity, one million children

could be paralyzed within five years. No

unvaccinated child will be safe, anywhere in the

world.

So please -- Join us. You and the organizations you

represent may well possess the talent, expertise,

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and resources that can help us relegate polio to the

history books.

And help us spread the word. We must END POLIO

NOW -- while we can -- and before it is too late.

Thank you.

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I know the next guest on the program has a very

personal perspective on polio eradication. Last

September at Rotary International Headquarters in

Evanston, Illinois, it was our privilege to host a visit

from His Excellency Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister

of Health and Family Welfare for the Republic of

India.

We deeply appreciate the very positive comments

he shared about Rotary’s contribution to the fight

against polio.

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In February of this year, Minister Azad again met

with Rotary leaders at the historic Polio Summit in

New Delhi, where we celebrated the wonderful news

that India -- at long last -- was officially polio free.

It could not have happened without the dedication

and commitment of the Indian Government, its

people – including the 121,000 members of Indian

Rotary clubs – and especially –His Excellency Mr.

Azad.

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Rotary's Fight to End Polio

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