IF Rotary Club works to end polio

Local efforts have made a big difference overseas. The Idaho Falls Rotary Club has partnered with club members worldwide to combat polio.

The club calls it the PolioPlus Campaign. Campaign efforts have closed in on most of the polio outbreak. More than 2 billion children have been immunized in 122 countries.

Although the U.S. has been free of polio for some time, Rotary Club Assistant Gov. Kym Mowery said it’s still important for everyone to stay involved worldwide.

“The new generations of children have no idea what polio is. It’s important to help international efforts so that the polio vaccine is given to everyone and that it doesn’t become an endemic again in the United States,” said Mowery.

The club has three countries left where there are major polio outbreaks. Even though there has been a great deal of turmoil, Mowery says the countries have been very receptive to foreign efforts.

To learn more about the club’s efforts or to contribute, visit Endpolio.org