Posted by Jim Fitzgerald
Thank You Rotary. The end is in sight. 
this is Rotary's finest hour.
In the year 1985 the onset of paralysis was confirmed in more than 35o,000 new cases of POLIO (poliomyelitis) by the World Health Organization.  That equates to almost a thousand human lives crippled by POLIO every day of the year; the equivalent of three fully loaded 747s crashing and killing ten percent of the passengers and crippling the rest of them for life. But, there were no headlines like the one above, or breaking news on the major TV channels back then.  Imagine how the newspapers and TV-News shows would handle a story like that TODAY, day after day forever?
 
The 1986-87 president of Rotary International M.A.T. Caparas, a member of the Rotary club of Manila, chose as his theme “Rotary Brings Hope”.  Under his leadership Rotary International committed to make that theme a reality for the children of the Philippines. Three years later, Rotary started it’s crusade against this invisible enemy, a world-wide war if you will, on Infantile Paralysis (POLIO).  The project was a success and three years later, at the Rotary Convention in Philadelphia, Rotary committed to funding an army of one point two million Rotarians in order to immunize one billion children. Later, many other organizations, and individuals, even governments joined the fight.
 
Since then, 3.5 billion children and young adults have been immunized against this dreadful disease.  Today, only eight unfortunate children have contracted POLIO thus far in 2017.  What as difference!
THANK YOU ROTARY!