Rotary to honor U.S. lawmakers for supporting a polio-free world

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May 13, 2015, 11:10 ET

EVANSTON, Ill., May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rotary will recognize five members of Congress for their support of the humanitarian service organization's top priority to eradicate polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that still paralyzes children in parts of the world today.

The following lawmakers will be presented with Rotary's Polio Eradication Champion Award during an event at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on May 13, 2015: Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.), and Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.). Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) will be accepting the award earlier in the day in her D.C. office.

These five lawmakers serve as advocates for securing U.S. government funding for polio eradication activities through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As key allies, they influence both their constituents at home and Congressional colleagues to support a polio-free world.

Polio affected scores of Americans during epidemics in the 1950s, but has since been reduced by 99 percent worldwide. Rotary launched its PolioPlus program in 1985 and in 1988 became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since the initiative launched in 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted from about 350,000 cases a year to less than 400 in 2014.

Rotary's main responsibilities within the initiative are fundraising, advocacy, and social mobilization. To date, Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to fight polio. Through 2018, every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year.

As the world's largest funder of polio eradication, the U.S. government has contributed more than $2.6 billion since the mid-1980s. To support the final push to end polio, Rotary and its partners are asking for $227.8 million in U.S. funding in 2016 through the CDC and USAID.

Though eradicated in the U.S. in 1979 and from most of the world today, polio remains endemic in three countries; Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Significant progress has been made this year. In Nigeria, no cases have been reported since July 2014, the longest polio-free period for the country to date. Pakistan, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of the world's polio cases in 2014, has reported less than half the number of cases to date in 2015 as the same time last year. No single case of polio has been reported on the African continent since August 2014.

Rotary established the Polio Eradication Champion Award in 1995 to recognize heads of state, health agency leaders and others who have made a significant contribution to polio eradication.

Past recipients of the Rotary award include Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany; Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and 38 current members of the 114th Congress previously recognized by Rotary as Champions.

About Rotary
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world's most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. Visit rotary.org and endpolio.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio. Video and still images will be available on the Rotary Media Center.

SOURCE Rotary International