Fight against polio almost won

The following letter appeared on the cover of the Rotarian magazine, September 2015 edition:

Dear Polio,

We have bad news for you. Very, very, very bad news. Today we stand extremely close to eliminating you. We still have more work to do, but we’ll get there. Someday, we’ll live in a world where you no longer exist. So, prepare to exit stage left. Adios. Ciao. Au revoir. Sayonara. Toodles. Goodbye.

Sincerely, Rotary

Rotarians joined the fight to end polio in 1985, when there were 400,000 polio victims per year, worldwide. Our pledge to end polio has yielded spectacular results:

• In January 2014, India was declared polio free after three years without a single case of wild poliovirus.

• In August 2015, Africa completed a year without a single case of wild poliovirus.

• To date, in 2015, there have been 51 cases of wild poliovirus in two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We are that close.

Maynard Gross

for Homer-Kachemak Bay Rotary Club