Rotary India National PolioPlus Committee Information

Rotary's involvement with Polio eradication began in 1979 with a five-year pledge to immunize six million children in the Philippines against the crippling disease of Poliomyelitis. Within years, the programme grew to include polio immunization projects in five developing countries. In 1982, Rotary committed to implement the most ambitious programme ever to immunize all the world's children against polio by 2005- Rotary's first birth centenary. Encouraged by Rotary's commitment to this end, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution for the eradication of polio as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). In 1988, the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate polio by the turn of the 20th century. Government of India was also a party to that resolution. World Health Organization (WHO) also recognized Rotary as the leading non-governmental key private partner on the global team dedicated to polio eradication, other key partners being the Central and State Governments, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department For International Development (DFID-UK), DANIDA (Danish Agency) and JICA (Japan). Rotary International has ever since been providing financial assistance to the national governments of the polio endemic countries for the purchase of oral Polio vaccine and conducting high level advocacy efforts aimed at raising of funds. Besides this Rotary launched its PolioPlus Programme with its branch in every endemic nation to implement and co-ordinate its various field activities having social mobilization, high level advocacy and publicity as the prime focus through its vast network of dedicated members / volunteers.