ERADICATE POLIO ROTARY FLAME

As part of an effort to celebrate the decades long battle and the ultimate victory over polio in India, the Rotary Club of Madras in December launched a Rotary Flame, lit by Rotary International President Gary Huang. It will travel around the world to commemorate India becoming a polio-free nation and to share its experience and expertise with countries where polio still exists.. Before reaching Rotary’s international convention in São Paulo, Brazil in June 2015, the Rotary Flame will traverse through Colombo, Karachi, Kabul, Sydney, Manila, London, Lagos, Evanston and Toronto. Once the epicenter of wild polio virus, India, along with the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia region, was officially declared polio-free in March 2014.  When Rotary began the worldwide eradication of polio campaign back in 1988, there were about 350,000 reported polio cases a year worldwide.  Last year, there were fewer than 400 reported polio cases worldwide.  Only three countries (Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan) now report having polio cases.  We must eradicate it!

 

The Rotary Flame paused at city hall in Cambridge, Ontario on May 12, 2015 (seen in the picture below).