"To end polio, we need to stop all types of the virus. Novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) is an improved vaccine for stopping outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). Learn more about cVDPV2 and the potential of nOPV2 for outbreak response."

“A lifetime of Disability. . . .It’s Imperative that we protect our children from this danger.” From the Pakistan Polio Initiative

“From 1940-1958, The Infantile Paralysis Center was housed on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute, known today as Tuskegee University. This red brick building in the South became the only place in the United States built specifically to treat Black children with polio. . . But the story doesn't end there."

Every child that is vaccinated against polio brings us closer to eradication.

These are some of the ways children receive their polio vaccines.

A Polio Network interview with Paul A. Offit, MD

"If we’ve had vaccines for the polio virus for almost 70 years, why haven’t we been able to fully eradicate it from the globe?" Sci Show Video

“In this video, Dr. Paul Offit discusses the history of polio and the polio vaccines — inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV). He explains why in rare instances OPV reverts to wildtype virus and the mechanism by which unvaccinated individuals can also get paralytic polio.”

In 1985 Rotary launched PolioPlus to immunize every child in the world against polio.

Working with our partners and members of the global health community, together we will end polio. We MUST stay the course.

The GPEI (Global Polio Eradication Initiative) polio program delivers more than the polio vaccine.

Polio health workers also respond to malaria, Ebola, measles, and now COVID-19 – strengthening health systems and working toward improved health for all.

The Progress to End Polio

How Rotary became the Heart and Soul of Polio Eradication

There were just three of us at the time. There was so much opposition, but we had faith that this is just the beginning of a whole new horizon for Rotary. If we, all of us, knew then what we know now, I doubt we would have taken it on. It was a huge dream.

“This short documentary was filmed on the ground in India. Our Co-founder, Soren Dickens, traveled to Delhi with a Rotary group to film Rotarians distributing a vaccine to children in a worldwide effort to eradicate polio. The trip took the group to places such as the majestic Taj Mahal, "The Pink City", and Amer Fort, while also exposing the group to the villages where the vaccinations took place.”

An animated video, from the GPEI, explaining the relationships between gender and polio eradication.

"Containment of polioviruses is crucial to securing a lasting polio-free world. Polioviruses will be kept after eradication in a limited number of laboratories and vaccine manufacturing facilities worldwide. Containment of these viruses is about making sure that safeguards are in place to minimize the risk of their release into communities, which could have devastating consequences."

"When I asked Bill Gates, 63, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, why polio, he began, 'Polio is a terrible disease.' An hour later, speaking to a group of Rotarians in Spokane, Washington, he said, “You know, we're going to get to the end of this and Rotary will be the reason that will happen.” Devin Thorpe

Travel with Patience Asiimwe to a remote region of Uganda to vaccinate children who otherwise would be missed. See how far she will go to make sure every child in her country is protected from polio.

Anand Balachandran, former Coordinator Polio Transition, speaks to the GPEI about ensuring the infrastructure built up to eradicate polio will continue to benefit broader public health goals, long after the disease has been eradicated.

"Polio surveillance is essential to win the fight against polio."

Honorine Mollard Billard, Polio Eradication Officer at WHO, speaks to the GPEI about critical country support to vaccination campaigns in Lao PDR, why it is important for polio-free countries to maintain high immunity, and the additional health interventions offered to communities during a polio campaign.

David Heymann, long-time public health expert, discusses what lessons smallpox eradication teaches us in eradicating a disease, and why it is critical to complete the job of polio eradication.