[Rotary] Fwd: Join me in celebrating World Polio Day

[J Gary Hopper]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Barry Rassin <RI.comms at rotary.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 2:46 PM
Subject: Join me in celebrating World Polio Day
To: <jghopper at gmail.com>


[image: Rotary.org]
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Barry Rassin
President, 2018-19
T +1.847.866.3235 <1.847.866.3235>
F +1.847.866.3390 <1.847.866.3390>
barry.rassin at rotary.org

My dear friends and fellow Rotary leaders,

This year, on 24 October, Rotary will again mark World Polio Day. I am
writing to ask all of you to join me on that day in raising global
awareness of the urgent need to End Polio Now.

I have been a Rotarian since long before Rotary committed to eradicate
polio. When I was inducted as a member in April of 1980, the idea of taking
on polio eradication as a corporate project had not yet been seriously
raised; polio still ravaged the lives of some 350,000 people, nearly all of
them children, every year.

Today, the world is a very different place. Thanks to the vision of
Rotary’s leaders then, and the commitment of the generations of Rotarians
who have followed, we now have fewer cases of polio than at any time in
history. As I write this message, only 14 children have been paralyzed by
the wild poliovirus in all of 2018. Only three countries are still
polio-endemic; wild virus still circulates in only one remaining reservoir,
on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The success of this work has come as the result of decades of concerted and
sustained effort by Rotary and all of our partners in the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative. Rotary’s involvement has been wide-ranging: we have
raised over 1.9 billion dollars to date, and have contributed countless
volunteer and staff hours to the practical work of eradication, including
immunization, fundraising, and advocacy. Our success has been tremendous,
and we are confident that our work will soon be complete.

Yet significant challenges remain, and the need for continued funding is
acute. Until eradication is certified—at least three years from the time
the last poliovirus is found anywhere in the world—every single child must
be immunized, at a continuing cost of hundreds of millions of dollars per
year. If any of that work is slowed or stopped, if any of our momentum is
lost, we risk losing everything we have worked for, for so many years.

This is why I am asking every Rotary club to find its own way, on 24
October, to raise awareness of Rotary’s work to eradicate polio. At
EndPolio.org <http://rotary.msgfocus.com/c/130jsM2wNr1BiIzkFZq5REy350k>,
you can find some great resources to help plan an event
<http://rotary.msgfocus.com/c/130jsTPfsgc6g9CSP8Yao3klpVx>, where you can
also promote your event
<http://rotary.msgfocus.com/c/130jt1BY75mBdAGqYiweUs6DKQK>, find nearby
events, and join our World Polio Day livestream
<http://rotary.msgfocus.com/c/130jt9oGLUx6b1JZ7s4jqQSW5LX> from the College
of Physicians in Philadelphia at 18:30 United States Eastern Time.

I look forward to coming together with all of you on World Polio Day—when
we can all *Be the Inspiration* to End Polio Now.

Yours in Rotary,
Barry Rassin
Rotary International President, 2018-19

Recipient list: District governors, assistant governors, club presidents,
regional leaders (RPICs, RRFCs, E/MGAs, and RCs), and the board of directors
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-- 
        GO A's
Gary "Hoop" Hopper
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