What is that Polio Picture? This picture shows Actress Grace Kelly as she distributed March of Dimes literature to leaders of the Mothers’ March on Polio. Even long before the GPEI was formed, Monaco played a leading role in early initiatives to develop a polio vaccine. In the 1950s, Her Serene Highness Princess Grace was an advocate for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in the United States of America, founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (himself a polio survivor).  See the Thanks Monaco note below.

Exceptional Progress!  “For the first time, all of the sites that undertake environmental testing for the wild poliovirus in Pakistan and in Afghanistan near the border have concurrently shown no presence of the wild polio virus.  This is a sign of tremendous progress in the 35 plus year effort to eradicate polio.

We have also gone 14 weeks without a wild poliovirus case. There have been just 4 cases of the wild polio virus in the last six months.  We have seen 2 wild polio cases since January 1st. 

Certainly, we will likely see more cases and  we will later find positive samples of wild polio virus in the environment, but  this is a good sign we are definitely getting closer.   It is remarkably similar to what we saw in India a decade ago.  And we are also seeing fewer vaccine derived cases than we saw last year.

With all the world’s challenges, it is heartening to have good news.” Michael K. McGovern, International Polio Plus Committee Chair

Thanks Monaco! – the largest per capita donor to the GPEI, contributed €50 000 to WHO for global Polio activities in 2021.

Thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has approved a total of US$ 10 million and US$ 5 million in funding for cVDPV Outbreak Response in 2021. Funds will be used to implement quality and timely outbreak response immunization activities as needed, including planned campaigns using nOPV2 and mOPV2 in countries of the African Region and potentially outbreak response campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean and European Regions.

Congratulations to Rotary In Great Britain and Ireland for their very successful Rotary Day Purple4Polio Tea Party – Celebrating Rotary’s 116th birthday!

​Almost Three Billion Children have now received the Oral Polio Vaccine as a result of the Rotary inspired PolioPlus Campaign!

A Win Against Polio is a Win for Global Health!

How Many Children have we saved from the paralysis of Polio?
That number has now reached 20 Million! That’s a number to celebrate and to share!

2021 Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Cases – 77 – Afghanistan – 33 (308 in 2020), Angola – 0 (3 in 2020),Benin – 1 (3 in 2020), Burkina Faso – 0 (62 in 2020), Cameroon – 0 (7 in 2020), CAR – 0 (4 in 2020), Chad – 0 (99 in 2020), Congo – 1 (2 in 2020), Cote d’ Ivoire – 0 (72 in 2020), DRC – 2 (81 in 2020), Ethiopia – 0 (26 in 2020), Ghana – 0 (11 in 2020), Guinea – 5 (44 in 2020), Liberia – 2 (0 in 2020),Madagascar – 1 (2 in 2020), Mali – 0 (46 in 2020), Malaysia – 0 (1 in 2020),  Niger – 0 (8 in 2020), Nigeria – 5 (8 in 2020), Pakistan – 6 (135 in 2020), Philippines – 0 (1 in 2020), Senegal  – 4 (0 in 2020) ,Sierra Leone – 4 (10 in 2020), Somalia – 0 (13 in 2020), South Sudan – 6 (50 in 2020), Sudan – 0 (58 in 2020), Tajikistan – 6 (1 in 2020), Togo – 0 (9 in 2020), and Yemen – 2 (33 in 2020).

A total of 1,085 Vaccine Derived Polio cases were reported in 26 countries in 2020.

Quote of the Day

“How hard is hitting a baseball?  You ever walk into a pitch black room full of furniture that you have never been in before and try to walk through it without bumping into anything?  Well, it’s harder than that.”  Ted Kluszewski –
Cinncinatti Reds First Baseman 1947-57

The Final Two Polio Endemic Countries:

0 new Polio cases reported this past week.
1 Wild Polio case – 2021. The most recent cases had an onset of paralysis on 1/1/21.
56 Wild Polio cases – 2020.  Two WPV1 & CVDPV2-Positive Environmental Samples were reported this week in Afghanistan.

Our Goal is Global Polio Eradication!!

Terry Ziegler, Endowment/Major Gifts Adviser Rotary Region 36