Ending Polio
Forty years ago, polio paralysed hundreds of thousands of children every year. Today the disease clings on in just two countries. We won’t stop until it’s gone for good.
Updated 24 September 2026 · Source: WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
The end is in sight
From a global child-killer to a virus on its last legs.
- 99.9 % drop in cases since 1988
- 20 Million children saved from paralysis
- 2 Countries where wild polio remains endemic
- 40 Years of Rotary commitment
What polio takes
Polio is a virus that mainly attacks children under five. It travels silently through contaminated water and food, and the harm it leaves behind is permanent — paralysis, deformity, sometimes death. There is no cure.
There is only a vaccine: two drops on a child’s tongue, costing roughly 60 cents a dose. The cheapest insurance policy any society has bought against one of the cruellest diseases of the twentieth century.
A founding partner of the eradication effort
In 1985 Rotary made a single, very public promise: a polio-free world. Three years later we co-founded the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi joined the partnership later.
Since then Rotary members worldwide have contributed more than US$2.6 billion to the cause and helped immunise more than three billion children. Wild polio cases have collapsed from around 350,000 a year across 125 countries in 1988 to just two endemic countries today: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Two of the three wild polio strains have already been declared eradicated. Only type 1 still circulates in the wild — and we are closing in on it.
What District 1160 is doing
Rotary clubs across the island raise funds for End Polio Now every year. Around World Polio Day on 24 October, you’ll see public buildings lit purple, crocus bulbs planted on village greens, sponsored walks, dinners, and quiz nights. Purple is our colour for a reason: it’s the dye marker put on the finger of every vaccinated child, so volunteers know that child doesn’t need to be reached again.
And here’s the multiplier: every euro raised by Rotary Ireland is matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. €100 from a club table quiz becomes €300 in vaccines.
Help us finish the job.
Polio is one virus, two countries away from becoming only the second human disease ever eradicated. Every euro and every voice gets us closer.
Emergency PolioPlus Campaign
The final push — until every child is vaccinated through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, every community protected.
So close to ending polio
When Rotary started its fight against polio in 1985, the disease paralysed more than 350,000 children every year across 125 countries.
Today, polio is endemic in just two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan — and global cases are down by more than 99.9%.
But the final 0.1% is the hardest. Until polio is eradicated everywhere, it can come back anywhere.
Why we need to act now
Recent funding shortfalls, conflict zones, and population displacement are putting decades of progress at risk. The Emergency PolioPlus Campaign exists to keep the eradication effort fully funded and operationally ready until polio is gone for good.
How Irish Rotary is supporting
- Direct giving — every euro contributed by Irish clubs is matched 2:1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Awareness — Irish clubs run World Polio Day events each October to keep the campaign in the public eye.
- Partnerships — clubs work with schools, businesses, and community groups across the island to extend the reach of every campaign.
This is the closest the world has ever been to eradicating a human disease — only smallpox has been eradicated before. We can’t stop now.
District 1160 PolioPlus Champion
Support the campaign
Every donation, every fundraiser, every vaccination day brings us closer to a polio-free world.
A polio-free world is now within reach.
Rotary’s contribution to the global polio eradication effort will exceed US$3.1 billion by the time the world is certified polio-free — including $1.6 billion in matching funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Every euro matters; every gift moves the date forward.