Thursday 24 October marks the annual World Polio Day, a chance for public and civil society partners to raise awareness and resources for the global effort to eradicate polio.

Rotary International and Rotarians around the world are using the day as an opportunity to showcase the current status of the eradication effort, and what steps need to be taken to ultimately achieve a lasting world free of all polioviruses.

2024 is a special year for the eradication effort.  An outbreak of variant poliovirus type 2 in Gaza has drawn the world’s attention on the reality that as long as polio exists anywhere, all countries will remain at risk.

But the outbreak in Gaza has also shown something else: the incredible global commitment to achieving a polio-free world.  Against all odds, in September and October, two rounds of outbreak response were implemented in Gaza, each time reaching well over half a million children with the lifesaving polio vaccine and other health interventions.  If it can be achieved here, amid all the challenges the people of Gaza currently face, it can be achieved everywhere.