Polio Facts
John Ockenfels, pilot of the 2023 Around The World: Flight To End Polio, administers the polio vaccine to a child in the ghettos of Karachi Pakistan.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus is spread person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis.
Ending Polio
Peter Teahen, pilot of the 2023 Around The World: Flight To End Polio, administers the polio vaccine to a child in the ghettos of Karachi Pakistan.
Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine. Rotary International and their partners have immunized over 2.5 billion children worldwide.
Unless we eradicate polio, within 10 years, as many as 200,000 new cases could occur around the world each year. In the past few years, only two countries have reported cases of polio, but no child anywhere is safe until we’ve vaccinated every child.
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Our flight around the world and our partnership with Rotary International continue to raise awareness for vaccination efforts to end polio forever.
How Your Donation Helps
Women vaccinating children in the ghettos of Karachi, Pakistan record the vaccination of each child and maintain the inventory of the life saving vaccine.
Rotary has made incredible progress in eradicating polio forever.
While the cost to fully protect a child against polio is only $3 per child, it is estimated that the cost to conduct polio surveillance worldwide is $100 million. In 2017 alone, 430 million children in 39 countries were vaccinated. Each child across the entire globe must be vaccinated in order for polio to be eradicated.
When you donate to our campaign to End Polio, 100% of your donation goes to the Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus Program. Every dollar helps to obtain vaccines and get them directly to those in need. Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, your donation will be matched 2:1, getting us even closer to a polio-free world.
