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Poliomyelitis or polio is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Polio invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It mainly affects children under five. Polio can be prevented by vaccines.

For more than 30 years, Rotary and its partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Rotary members have contributed $1.9 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. With our partners, we have reduced polio cases by 99.9 %, from 350,000 cases in 125 countries in 1988 to just 17 cases in two countries today- Afghanistan and Pakistan. Eliminating this disease and maintaining a polio free environment in these countries for 3 consecutive years is within reach.

Rotary International has committed to raising $50 million per year for polio eradication. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-1 for a total commitment of $150 million each year. More than 1 million Rotary members have donated their time and money to eradicate polio once and for all. When this day comes, polio will join smallpox as the only two diseases made extinct on the face of the earth. To learn more about polio today, go to http://polioeradication.org/.

Come join in this humanitarian effort. Rotary Clubs exist throughout the United States, including locally in Wellsboro, Troy, and Towanda. Join them online with Facebook. Or at their Rotary District 7410 website.