WORLD POLIO DAY IS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24
NAPERVILLE – The Rotary Club of Naperville will celebrate World Polio Day on Saturday October 24, 2020 with a special educational exhibit available for public viewing. The display portrays polio’s terrible effects and global devastation by featuring a real iron lung, used widely in America in the 1940s and 1950s to keep many victims alive. It will be open to the public from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the corner of Main and Water Streets. in downtown Naperville. Community members are encouraged to view it, read background and ask questions. Signboards will provide links to make donations and get more information about Naperville’s four Rotary clubs.
When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, continue to report cases of wild poliovirus.
With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children worldwide at risk. Rotary has committed to raising $50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match those funds 2-to-1, for a total annual contribution of $150 million.
About Rotary
Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who unite and take action to create lasting change in communities around the globe. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to improve lives through service. From promoting literacy and peace to providing clean water and improving health care, Rotary members are always working to better the world. Visit www.endpolio.org to learn more about Rotary and the fight to eradicate polio. For information about Rotary, check the Rotary Club of Naperville Facebook page or the website www.napervillerotary.com .
Photo Caption: Iron lungs were used widely in America and other countries decades ago to keep many polio victims alive. The Rotary Club of Naperville brings a real iron lung here to educate neighbors on this terrible disease and our progress toward global eradication.
