Ithaca Rotary Supports Worldwide Polio Eradication
Club raises funds, participates in “This Close” ad campaign
The Ithaca Rotary Club is a strong advocate for Rotary International’s polio eradication initiative. We are now “this close” to erasing polio from the earth. In recognition and support of this important global endeavor, Ithaca Rotary is actively taking part in Rotary International’s “This Close” ad campaign, and we invite the public to join us.
According to the End Polio Now webpage (www.endpolio.org/en), the world’s largest health initiative deserves the World’s Biggest Commercial, one starring thousands of people around the globe. The World’s Biggest Commercial enables everyday folks from all walks of life to join with Nobel laureates, movie stars, famous musicians and other notable people to express a united commitment to End Polio Now. The goal is to wipe this terrible, crippling disease from the face of the earth.
When Rotary took up the fight against polio in 1985, this disease affected 350,000 people, mostly children, in 125 countries every year. Since then, more than 2 billion children have been vaccinated and polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent. Fewer than 700 new cases were reported in 2011, and the wild poliovirus today is confined to isolated pockets in only three countries. We truly are “This Close” to ending polio forever. But if we don’t finish the fight right now, polio could quickly resurge, with devastating consequences. More than 10 million children could be paralyzed in the next 40 years.
Ithaca Rotary Club has joined with individuals and other Rotary clubs around the world by taking part in the World’s Biggest Commercial, and we invite you to participate too. Snap a photo of yourself making the “This Close” sign and upload it into the commercial at http://thisclose.endpolio.org/en. Show it to your friends and family and ask them to do the same. Make a donation to www.endpolio.org/en/#donate – only $15 buys 25 oral polio vaccines.
Your involvement will help convince world leaders that support for polio eradication is global. It’s time to make history together. Help us change the world. Let’s end polio now. We are truly “This Close.”