End Polio Now Newsletter: February 2024

The World Health Organization recognizes 24-30 April each year as World Immunization Week. Rotary and our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative use the annual event to highlight the critical importance of polio vaccinations in protecting children from the debilitating effects of polio. World Immunization Week is also a key moment in the year to show the success of vaccines in reducing polio cases by more than 99.9% since the GPEI was established in 1988, which provides proof that #VaccinesWork.

In March and April, check the End Polio Now Resource Center for new information and materials your club can use to host a polio-related event during World Immunization Week.

1. Mark 24-30 April on your calendar for World Immunization Week. With your club, start thinking about what you can do that week to increase support for polio vaccination efforts.
2. Share the great news that the novel oral polio vaccine type 2, nOPV2, will soon be available in more countries. Sample message:
   • The novel oral polio vaccine type 2, #nOPV2, has been granted a key approval from @WHO.  Now even more children can be better protected from the devastating consequences of polio. #EndPolio [Link to press release]

World Health Organization
The World Health Organization would like to extend gratitude to Rotary International for the generous contribution of US$69.19 million in 2023 to support technical assistance in headquarters and the African and Eastern Mediterranean Regions, operational costs for Supplemental Immunization Activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, global outbreak response, surveillance in Nigeria, and research activities.

UNICEF
From polio eradication to climate change, Rotary and UNICEF’s shared commitment to ensuring the health and well-being of the children of the world has made our partnership a special one. In December, at the United Nations climate change conference known as COP28, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden recorded a message of gratitude for Rotary members.
 

• Watch and share this Voices of Members video to raise awareness about the work Rotary members are doing to help eradicate polio.
• Watch Rotary Tasmania fire up their grills to fundraise for the fight against polio.
• Listen to Jennifer Jones, past Rotary International president, interview Dr. Hamid Jafari, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region’s director of polio eradication.

• The BBC shared a story about how Rotary clubs in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel, planted 28,000 purple crocus bulbs to raise awareness for End Polio Now.
• Rotary’s PolioPlus Director Carol Pandak was quoted by a contributor for Forbes in a piece on the progress that Rotary and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have made toward eradicating polio.
• Television station KGUN in Tucson, Arizona, USA, interviewed John Hewko, Rotary International general secretary, about his annual participation in El Tour de Tucson, a bike race to raise awareness and funds for End Polio Now.

• End Polio Now Resource Center
• Rotary Brand Center Polio Resources
• Global Polio Eradication Initiative Website
• Raise for Rotary