This is one of those rare moments when decades of hard work may finally add up to something historic. Since Rotary and our partners helped launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, the world has seen wild poliovirus cases decline by more than 99.9 per cent — an achievement that was once considered almost impossible just forty years ago. Rotarians have contributed more than £1.6 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly three billion children in 122 countries from this paralysing disease. Our advocacy has also helped governments commit more than £8 billion to the cause.

This progress isn’t just a statistic — it’s a testament to years of persistent, on-the-ground effort, from mass vaccination campaigns to community education and advocacy. Through PolioPlus and Rotary’s global network, we’ve helped build health systems and protect generations from needless suffering.

We have even more to celebrate: in the last months of 2025, no new cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) attributable to wild poliovirus were reported, thanks to strong surveillance systems and high immunisation coverage in many areas. That’s a sign that the virus is being squeezed into an ever-shrinking corner of the globe.

Yet the job isn’t finished. Wild poliovirus transmission continues in just two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as long as it exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere. In our globally connected world, the virus could travel quickly if we relax our efforts.

This final stretch requires us to maintain frequent vaccination campaigns, strengthen surveillance, train healthcare workers, and sustain the community engagement that has brought us this far. The funds Rotarians raise through PolioPlus are essential to keeping this effort alive — reaching every child, in every community, until no child is at risk.

The end is within sight. With continued Rotary leadership and global partnership, we will make history again — eradicating polio as only the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated from the face of the earth.