The global effort by Rotary International and its global partners to eradicate polio from the face of the earth continues to sh discouraging results this month.  The report of September 25thon the GPEI (Global Polio Eradication Initiative) website, polioeradication.org, shows 82 cases of polio attributed to the wild polio virus.  That is almost four (4) times the number of cases in 2017 when there were 22 cases for the year.  Additionally, on September 19, 2019 an outbreak of polio was declared in the Philippines.
 
At the recent Zone Institute those in attendance had an opportunity to hear from Mike McGovern.  Mr. McGovern serves as the chair of the International PolioPlus Committee and represents Rotary on the Polio Oversight Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. 
Mike stated in his comments that 18,000,000 children/young adults do not have polio today as a result of the PolioPlus program.
Earlier in the day, before his comments at the Zone Institute, Mr. McGovern had a phone meeting with the other stakeholders in the GPEI. Among other groups, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center For Disease Control (CDC) were represented on the call. Mr. McGovern reported that in the phone meeting it came out that there had been no polio immunizations in Afghanistan for two (2) months. This was the result of the government and the Taliban banning polio immunizations.  However this is disputed on the GPEI (Global Polio Eradication Initiative) website where it is stated that 2.1 million children were immunized in July and 5.1 million were immunized in August.  It is quite possible that perhaps immunizations were banned only in portions of the country.  I guess we will have to wait and see how the situation sorts out.
 
Pakistan, with 66 cases of polio this year continues to be a problem. See the next newsletter article on why it is so difficult to conquer polio in Pakistan.  Following that article, there is an article discussing the recent outbreak of polio in the Philippines.
There is still work to be done if Rotary is to keep its promise to the children of the world.  We cannot give up now