Polio Challenge
Rotary's Challenge for polio eradication has reached the US$200 million milestone in January 2012. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded The Rotary Foundation an additional $50 million grant, which is not a challenge grant, in recognition of Rotary's early achievement of this milestone
PolioPlus, the most ambitious program in Rotary's history, is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. For more than 20 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease.
Rotary District 9830, Tasmania ,brought the project to the attention of the Tasmanian Community on 26 February 2011 to help us finish the task. 
You can still help....
Make a secure, tax deductable donation via credit card to District 9830 End Polio Now Campaign.
Donations to the Polio Appeal will be forwarded to our Australian Rotary Foundation Trust
ABN 55 218 421 934 (Endorsed as a Deductable Gift Recipient )
Donation Form (.doc)
Donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Australia Circumnavigated for Polio -The Yellow Boat Road
Rob Pennicott's circumnavigation of Australia in two outboard powered 5.4 metre dinghies raised more than $250 000 
for Rotary's Global Polio Challenge. The two yellow - hulled dinghies finished in Sydney on Sunday 11 September.
At Wrest Point Saturday on 24th September 2011 a celebration dinner was held and over $31 000 raised for the project. The Rotary Club of Kingston presented Rob Pennicott with a Paul Harris Fellowship which was awarded by DG Peter Murfett.
On arrival; at Constitution Dock in Hobart, Rob Pennicott and his co-skipper, Mick Souter, and camera-man, Zorro, were welcomed by Premier Lara Giddings, the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Rob Valentine and Rotary 9830 District Governor Peter Murfett.
View the ABC 7:30 Report story
Follow their trip on Face book
Check their blog- Yellow Boat Road Blog for Rotary's End Polio Now campain.
Landmarks Illuminated
More than 20 world landmarks spanning five continents were illuminated with Rotary's End Polio Now pledge during the week of Feb. 23,
the humanitarian service organization's 106th anniversary. Since 1985, Rotary has raised more than US$1 billion and has helped to immunize more than two billion children.
Through Rotary International, the fight against this crippling disease has been largely volunteer-driven. Never before has the influence of the private sector played such a critical role in a global public health effort. "When Rotary International launched PolioPlus in 1985, more than 125 countries were still polio endemic, and at least a thousand children were paralyzed every day," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at Rotary's 2009 Convention. "Since then, [Rotary has] led the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, side by side with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
More than two billion children have been immunized. More than five million children who otherwise would have been paralyzed are walking. There are now only four countries that are still polio endemic. Rotary's vision of a polio-free world is in sharp focus."
One of these countries, Pakistan has launched an emergency action plan against Polio.
Rotary International pledged to raise 120 million U.S. dollars to pay for immunizing children against the disease. Rotarians have since raised more than $900 million to end polio.
Rotary is now a partner with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a renewed effort to eradicate polio. The W.H.O. says since 1988, more than two billion children around the world have been immunized against polio. The campaign is focusing on Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria - the four countries where the disease remains.
In response to the funding crisis, Rotary eagerly accepted a US$355 million challenge grant from the Gates Foundation, which Rotary will match with an additional US$200 million over three years, raising a much needed US$555 million, all of it dedicated to polio eradication. Rotary clubs here and around the world are determined to do whatever it takes to achieve a world free of the crippling disease polio. A major part of that effort is to raise $200 million in response to a challenge grant of $355 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . This challenge has now been met.
Watch a webcast with Bill Gates discussing the life saving value of vaccines.
Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognized worldwide as a model of public-private cooperation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal. In addition to providing financial and volunteer support, Rotary works to urge support from other public and private sector partners.
Rotary clubs here and around the world are determined to do whatever it takes to achieve a world free of the crippling disease polio.
The campaign to End Polio Now was inspired by the extraordinary challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Read a Voice of America news article as reported from Australia in August 2010
Read Gates Foundation 2011 annual letter
An Australian Connection
In 1978-'79 CLEM RENOUF from Rotar Club of Nambour, Queensland was Rotary's World President and launched a program allowing and encouraging clubs to combine for major projects.
The fight against smallpox showed diseases could be eradicated. No-one was really thinking about ridding the world of polio until Sir Clem was returning from a meeting in the Philippines. The story is detailed in a transcript of ABC TV 7:30 report, 7 April 2010
The Final Inch - see the trailer
This Academy Award-nominated 38-minute documentary follows health workers, including Rotarian volunteers, as they immunize children in India.
A review
Few people have any real idea of the conditions of life in parts of India and this film gives an excellent view of the challenges of life in the slums, especially regarding health and sanitation. You see polio vaccination volunteers, Rotary members and health workers plodding through garbage, crossing rivers and facing extreme suspicion and prejudice as they try to reach every child. Once they reach a family, we see them labor to convince the parents that they are not there to hurt their baby, but to prevent it from getting polio, a disease that can cripple and kill. Yes, polio still exists in the world and ruins thousands of lives a year. It really opened my eyes and I can't recommend this film enough.
The long awaited DVD on the struggle to eradicate Polio, "The Final Inch" is now for sale on Amazon.com. It costs US$7.50 and US$2 of each sale goes to the PolioPlus. It's been translated into 19 languages. You can order it at this link .
More details of this film at www.thefinalinch.org
Communities are more likely to contribute to Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge if they know that ending polio will
• Spare children forever from death and disability caused by the disease
• Save an estimated US$1 billion per year that could be spent on addressing other public health concerns
Polio Challege - recent updates from Rotary International
See the latest news at http://www.polioeradication.org./
