Fight against polio proof of Rotary's motto

Polio doesn't spread fear in the United States the way it once did. Officially declared eradicated in North America in the 1990s, the disease afflicted thousands at its height in the early 1950s. It could paralyze. It could maim. It could kill.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who contracted polio in the 1920s and survived to lead our country through the Great Depression and World War II, promoted private efforts such as the March of Dimes to raise money to fight the disease, once known as infantile paralysis.

Still, throughout the 1930s and 1940s, polio epidemics swept across the nation, leaving a legacy of leg braces, iron lungs and lives cut short.

When American scientists developed not one but two different vaccines to fight polio in the 1950s and 1960s, it was big news. Immunization campaigns brought protection to the population. Then the notion that everyone around the world should receive polio vaccinations was born.

To achieve that goal, a Global Polio Eradication Initiative was inaugurated about two decades ago. It is gratifying that Rotary International is one of the partners in the effort, financed by a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

It is even more gratifying that Rotarians in the Sauk Valley have gotten involved.

Dana McCoy, a member of the Sterling Noon Rotary Club, reported on a recent trip she took with 21 other regional delegates to Nigeria. Once there, the Rotarians administered polio vaccines door to door in rural villages.

Nigeria is one of only four remaining polio trouble spots in the world. The others are Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Practically everywhere else, polio has been eradicated thanks to the global initiative that has cut the incidence of polio cases by 99 percent.

Clean water sources are key to preventing the spread of diseases such as polio, so Rotary members are considering an additional challenge to raise money for better water and sanitation projects in Nigeria.

Not all Rotarians can go abroad to volunteer, but their service and leadership back home can make a difference. The same holds true for average citizens, who can support club members' efforts to fight polio by contributing to Rotary fundraising projects.