Current Events

Peekskill Rotary Supports International Effort to Eradicate Polio

In 1988, when 1,000 children a day were being paralyzed by Polio, Rotary International set out on a bold initiative-the eradication of this dread disease.

Peekskill Rotary’s guest speaker Feb. 15, Dennis King of UNICEF, gave a compelling update on the current war on Polio. Although there has been a 99% reduction in the number of cases worldwide, 2,000 children today are suffering from Polio in isolated pockets on Northern Nigeria, along the Indian-Pakistani border and in remote parts of Afghanistan. The daily upheaval of war in these troubled areas, plus the distrust of the West by Moslem fanatics and uneducated young mothers obstructs the W. H. O. and R. I. volunteers from distributing the needed oral vaccines on a routine basis, a crucial element in the eradication campaign. Dennis cited the 2005 experience of Indonesia as an example how swiftly the polio virus can spread.

The current issue of Rotarian features Rotary International’s efforts to bring the virus back under control in West Java. Dennis stressed that as long as one child somewhere in the world is infected with the Polio virus, then all children are at risk.  Dennis lauded Rotary for its outstanding range of contributions in the war on Polio; from the village level, with volunteers distributing oral vaccines to the financial level, where Rotary International has raised over $650,000,000.  Our assembly was the first local Rotary Club that Dennis ever had an opportunity to address. We were proud to have him as a speaker, and in turn Dennis made us proud to be Rotarians.

» Click here to read Dennis King’s Power Point presentation (please allow time to download the file)