Polio this week and Weekly Country updates as of December 2018.
Afghanistan, one new case of wild poliovirus type 1(WPV1) has been reported from Nawzad district, Hilmand province with onset of paralysis on 6 November. The total number of WPV1 cases in 2018 is 21.
Pakistan, no cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported this week. The total number of WPV1 cases in 2018 in the country is 8.
PolioPlus update December 2018 is Afghanistan 21, Pakistan 8, Total Globally is 29 cases.
Rotary And Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce US$450 Million Commitment to End Polio during Atlanta Convention. From 2017 to 2020, Rotary commits US$50 Million per year to ending Polio. Gates Foundation commits US$100 Million match per year (2:1).
We heard about PolioPlus for a long time since we joined Rotary. But not many of us know what is PolioPlus about.
1978 Rotary introduced the Health, Hunger, and Humanity (3-H) Grant funded a project to immunize 6 million Philippines children against polio.
1985 The PolioPlus program was launched to eradicate polio worldwide.
PolioPlus is the program to receive funds given to TRF for the worldwide campaign to eradicate polio.
Polio eradication is Rotary's top philanthropic priority. Rotary launched the PolioPlus program in 1985. In 1988, when Rotary began working with its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there were more than 350,000 polio cases in over 125 countries. Since then, more than 2.5 billion children have been immunized against polio, and the incidence of polio has decreased 99.9 percent.
As of 2017, Rotary's contributions to the global polio eradication effort, with matching funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, exceeded US$1.7 billion.
PolioPlus Grants fund global polio eradication efforts in countries where polio is endemic and those at risk for the disease. Grants support immunization campaigns and monitoring of poliovirus transmission.
PolioPlus grants are funded from the general PolioPlus Fund and DDF contribution.
Grant proposals are submitted primarily by major implementing partner agencies, such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF, or by national PolioPlus committee chairs (listed in Rotary's Official Directory). Foundation Trustees consider PolioPlus grant requests at regularly scheduled meetings.
To respond a call from Chair of End Polio Now, Countdown To History, PRIP John F. Germ, our district made a contribution of US$25,000.00 from our DDF this year, while many of our fellow Rotarians have made their contributions individually in different manners.
We are closer than ever to seeing a polio-free world. Funding is urgently needed to not only stop polio transmission in the remaining endemic countries, but also to protect more than 400 million children living in polio-free areas.
Please encourage your clubs to continue to support the PolioPlus Fund, emphasizing that contributions of any amount make a big impact.
PDG Jones Wong, Chair of DRFC.