Polio Announcement: One year of no new Polio cases in Nigeria - help spread the word

On 24 July, Nigeria will have passed one year with no new cases of wild poliovirus.

This is the longest the country has ever gone without a case of polio and a critical step on the path toward a polio-free Africa. We’ve come a long way since the bleak years when the virus reached its peak. It was only a decade ago that polio struck 12,631 people in Africa- three quarters of all cases in the world.

11 August will mark an even greater milestone: one year since the last case of polio in Africa. For Africa to be certified polio-free, all countries in the region, including Nigeria, must go two more years without a case of polio. To do this, all children in Nigeria must continue to receive the polio vaccine, including those in hard-to-reach and underserved areas.

I am immensely proud of our Rotarians who have donated $688.5 million to fight polio throughout Africa, including more than $200 million to Nigeria. I congratulate these Rotarians from Africa and around the world who have also devoted countless hours to immunize the children who now have the opportunity for healthier, happier lives.

Please note if the stringent World Health Organization testing criteria are met, then Nigeria could well be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in September of this year.

As our public image coordinators, we need your help spreading the news about this significant milestone. It is crucial to keep the world informed about the progress being made in the fight against polio. The support of Rotarians, donors, and local governments are key to our goals and we rely on you to help keep them informed. This is why the RPICs program was set up. Now is the time to deliver.

Visit endpolio.org to download a toolkit of materials, which will help you raise awareness about this progress by:

• Distribute a press release to news outlets in your area, to share Rotary’s role in the fight to end polio. Customize this press release template and send it to editors and news directors at local media outlets.
• Send an op-ed to your local paper.. Update this sample op-ed for publication in your local newspaper. Check for your paper’s specific guidelines (e.g. word count) and then send it to the op-ed or editorial features editor for consideration.
• Share news about progress in Nigeria using social media, and encourage your networks to donate. Sample posts and shareable content are available to download for your use. Social media is a crucial part of our milestone campaign and is one of the most efficient ways of spreading information.
• Click here to share your support on Twitter for the fight to end polio.

All Rotarians - spread the news

Here is an article published today in Time magazine entitled:

The Final Battle Against Polio?

It comments on the recent attacks on volunteers working in Pakistan by stating:

"Using children as viral suicide bombers this way is a new — and grotesque — form of bio-terrorism, and the world, for now at least, is not standing idly by. After the December killings, Pakistani officials pledged to continue with the country’s plans to deploy 250,000 health care workers to vaccinate 35 million children this year. The governments of Nigeria and Afghanistan have similarly vowed to see the eradication drive through to its end, as have the U.N. and the other institutions involved in the battle. The Islamic Development Bank has put fresh money behind the  push, donating $227 million to the vaccine program in Pakistan in particular. This is on top of the billions already provided by Rotary and the Gates Foundation alone."

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/03/the-final-battle-against-polio/#ixzz2GzqG9BAP

 

Please share with your own networks.

The action of Rotary has impacted the world

With the end of polio "This Close," Rotarians lead the way to eradication.

Visit Rotary’s new polio website and help us make history

Click on the image to visit the new web site

Robert S. Scott (Chair, Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee) invites us all to visit the new Polio Plus web site

He writes:

Greetings,

We are “this close” to making history by eradicating the crippling disease polio once and for all. We are at a true tipping point: case counts have never been lower, the number of countries affected has never been fewer—the time to beat polio is now. Only smallpox has ever been eradicated, and we will make history again by vanquishing polio.

But to achieve a polio-free world, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative need your support to spread the word. Together, we must educate and activate individuals, organizations, and most importantly, governments, to keep up the fight to end polio now.

Click here to visit the new web site

Robust and coordinated digital outreach is necessary to reach our goal.  For that reason we created a virtual home—endpolionow.org-- where people can rally together to finish the fight to end polio. This website is available in English now, with other languages to follow.

Read more here ...

Why polio hasn't gone away yet.

Report from CNN - 30 July, 2012

Two little girls in matching gingham jumpers -- Pam is crouching and pulling on her sister Patricia's leg brace -- appeared in a poster for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in the early 1950s. They'd both recovered from polio.

"The story always went that she would loosen my braces, so we could play better, because my legs would be stiff ... I had it worse than she did," said Patricia O'Neil Dryer, now 65 years old and living in St. Cloud, Florida.

Read more ...

A Rotary engine

The Economist wrote an article about Rotary's work with Polio, touching upon our successes and the current challenges we face - a great read!

Can a businessmen’s club eradicate polio from the world? IT IS a year since the last case of polio was diagnosed in India. That is not enough to pronounce the country polio-free—three clear years are the conventional period required for that to happen. But it is a good start. And if India really is clear, then what was once a global scourge will now be endemic to a mere three countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. The number of people infected, meanwhile, has dropped from 350,000 in 1988 to 650 last year.   Read more ...

President Sakuji Tanaka commited to eradicate Polio

To all Rotarians - these news stories are for your to take and spread in your own areas.  We have a powerful international network that we should use to share our news stories.

Yomiuri Shimbun - June 22, 2012 

A Japanese daily with the largest circulation, ran a profile story on President Sakuji Tanaka. He is depicted as a real self-made man in an inspiring way.  Polio eradication is mentioned in his comment, “I’m committed to eradicate polio campaign. Eradication of polio is Rotary’s top priority.”  He also mentioned about the two schools he and his district built in Bangladesh. The story is mainly about his life (including Rotary).  The last paragraph reads ‘Rotary clubs are organizations which implement service activities in the communities both locally and internationally.  There are about 90,000 members in 2,300 clubs in Japan.”  

The End Game for Polio

By Washington Post Editorial Board, Published: June 15

THE WORLD IS closer than ever to eradicating the polio virus. When the effort began in 1988, the disease was endemic in 125 countries, but now just three remain: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In recent months, there have been fewer cases in fewer districts of fewer countries than at any time in history. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said recently that the battle against polio is at a “tipping point between success and failure.”

Washington Post Editorial

Infographics communicate

Click above to see the full 'infographic'

Sometimes a picture is better than a 1,000 words.

The use of 'info graphics' is growing and Rotary is picking up on how effective this can be.

Check this out

Media clips:

Reuters: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/global-emergency-plan-launched-to-eradicate-polio (President Banerjee quoted)

Canadian Press: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20120524/paralytic-polio-eradication110524/ (Carol Pandak quoted)

A profile deserving promotion

Rotary has much to be proud of and the mission to remove Polio from our planet is almost a reality.  Do share.

The Swimarathon is happening again Feb 23 2013 - let's make this an even greater event to have fun, raise the profile of Rotary and our fight against polio and to gather more funds to contribute to the cause.

Tell our story

The fight is on to completely eliminate polio from the planet

Rotary is continuing the fight against polio and the media need to spread the word.

Rotarians - tell your other Rotarian friends and tell your community.

We are 'this close' to stamping out polio and need a concerted effort to finish the job!

View more here

The world needs to know!

Rotary PR - on the Move!

DG Ian Simpson (left), Geoff Crouch of Ron Crouch Transport &
District 9700 PR Chair PDG John Egan with  the ‘Rotary Truck’
leaving Wagga on it’s first journey.

Next time your are driving between Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane or stuck for hours in a peak hour traffic jam look for the Rotary PR Truck.
District 9700 Public Relations Chair PDG John Egan and DG Ian Simpson came up with the idea after exploring (and rejecting because of cost) the use of Roadside Billboards to advertise Rotary.
The END POLIO NOW advertisement decorates the sides of a Wagga based, long-haul truck that will travel around south-eastern Australia for the next 6 to 8 years.
One of the Ron Crouch Transport fleet, the side curtains promote Rotary’s role in the eradication of Polio in our world.
The 15m long sign enables the reader to take action and find out more about Rotary and passes the 'readability at 100km per hour' test.
District 9700 thanks Ron Crouch Transport and recognises Dick Garner, RI Regional Public Image Coordinator and the Governors of Districts 9680, 9690, 9710, 9790, 9800, 9810 for partnering us in this Public Relations initiative.

Coca Cola supports Rotary in Pakistan

Click on Image to read more

On 7 April, in honor of World Health Day, a team of Rotarians, Rotary partners, and employees from Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan joined forces to pick up garbage and conduct a cleanup campaign in Union Council 4, Gadap Town, Pakistan.

Gadap Town is one of Karachi’s high risk areas for the wild polio virus, and was chosen for the cleanup campaign because environmental samples have tested positive for the virus since 2009. Union Council 4 is the most populous of Gadap Town’s eight Union Councils, with a population of 450,000.

RI’s Pakistan PolioPlus Committee and Coca-Cola Pakistan are joining forces to build awareness for Rotary’s polio eradication campaign and emphasize the importance of polio immunizations nationwide.

23 February - let's get out there!!

What is your Club panning to do around the birthday of Rotary on 23 February?

Have a read.  This is the approach of District 9500 - a Week 4 Rotary - love it!!

A Public Awareness programme with some excellent examples of activities all Clubs can put into place.

Take a look here ...

Our Profile gets a boost

Rotary International has generously provided us in Zone 7b (and to Rotarians all around the world) with a Public Relations Grant to assist in promoting Rotary in our community.  A national committee representing each District has devised a publicity campaign over February/March.  You are encouraged as a Club to supplement this campaign with your own local media activity.  This can be paid advertising, generating public interest through special high-profile projects and events or through personal promotion by your members by inviting the community to your Club meetings.

This media campaign involves:

Television 12 February – 30 March (TV3)

Radio 19 February – 30 March (Newstalk ZB, Easy Listening, Hauraki and their other networked stations)

Billboards 4 March – 6 May (Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin)

Online Marketing 19 February – 25 March (TV3 online, NZ Herald, Stuff, Yahoo, Facebook, msn.co.nz)

For more details go here ... 
Rotary Stories go here ...