2013 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IN LISBON, PORTUGAL

Posted by Dianne Paron 
on Jun 18, 2013
 
John Hewko, General Secretary of Rotary International, shared this photo and story from Lisbon Portugal, site of the 2013 Rotary International Convention.  More than 20,000 Rotarians will be in attendance at the event that runs from June 23-26.  The photo is of Belem Tower, illuminated with the "End Polio Now" image.

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After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.

Reaching the ultimate goal of a polio-free world presents ongoing challenges, not the least of which is a hundreds of million dollar funding gap. Of course, Rotary alone can't fill this gap, but continued Rotarian advocacy for government support can help enormously.

As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.

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Good news from the Independent Monitoring Board, which said that "Stopping polio transmission by end 2014 is a realistic prospect."

Rotary International and its partners CDC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and World Health Organization (WHO) have been working tirelessly to eradicate polio. Learn more about our work at www.endpolio.org

The Independent Monitoring Board , which is charged with evaluating progress and assessing risks in the global polio
eradication program, issued its seventh report.

The report concluded that "stopping polio transmission by the end of 201...4 is a realistic prospect" if the program continues to improve and address key risks

"All of those who work towards polio eradication should be proud of what they have achieved over the last two years. The prospects of interrupting polio transmission globally have been transformed by their work." http://ow.ly/lKzk5See More