Source: CDC

On World Polio Day, established by Rotary International, the global health community comes together to celebrate successes and renew commitments to eliminate polio once and for all. Polio is a highly infectious disease and can cause irreversible paralysis, but thanks to past research efforts, there is a polio vaccine that can prevent the disease. This year, World Polio Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Launched in 2008 by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United Nations Children’s Fund, GPEI is playing a critical role in the final push to immunize children around the world and eradicate this paralyzing disease. Rotary International, the first organization to become involved in the fight against polio, will have donated over $1.2 billion by 2013 and more than one million Rotary members have donated their time and personal resources to the effort. WHO oversees strategic planning for the initiative and develops standard guidelines for implementing vaccination programs. The CDC helps to train public health volunteers and CDC experts plan, implement and evaluate polio vaccine campaigns. The CDC is also responsible for polio surveillance, research and monthly reports on the progress toward global polio eradication.

The outstanding efforts of these public health agencies and workers have reduced the global incidence of polio from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 171 cases in four countries in 2012. These public health heroes are exactly the kind of individuals that Public Health Thank You Day was created to honor. Celebrated each year on the Monday of Thanksgiving, Public Health Thank You Day is an opportunity to recognize public health agencies, professionals, and volunteers like those from Rotary International who work to protect the health of Americans and others around the world. To learn more, please visit http://www.researchamerica.org/ph_thank_you or like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PHTD1.

-Morgan McCloskey, global health intern