Working to End Polio

Eradicating polio from the world is Rotary's biggest and most important project and Box Hill Central Rotary Club contributes financially to this unique project each year. 
What is Polio?
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly contagious, and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in parts of the world. The poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age but mainly affects children under five.  
Australia was declared polio-free in 2000 but the disease is still present in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan so immunisation of children remains essential.  In 90% of cases, polio has no symptoms.
Rotary gets involved...
Rotary first made efforts to eradicate Polio starting in 1979 by committing to a five-year partnership with the Government of the Philippines to immunise about six million children against polio.  With the Philippines polio-free, Rotary International launched "PolioPlus" in 1985 with the objective of totally eradicating polio from the world.
​Since then, Rotary has led the campaign providing a total of more than 10 billion doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) worldwide. As a consequence of this effort, annual diagnosed cases of polio have declined by over 99.9%, with just 74 cases recorded in 2015. ​​