Since 1988, Rotary International and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — have worked to wipe polio from the face of the earth. Through the efforts of Rotarians everywhere, the spread of polio has been drastically reduced. Seattle news anchor Penny LeGate reports for Voice of America on one of those hard-working Rotarians, Ezra Teshome, incoming governor of District 5030 (Washington, USA), and eradication efforts in Gondar, Ethiopia.

Rotarians show their enthusiasm for the fight against polio in Africa

By Ralph Munro, Rotary Club of Seattle, Washington, USA

2011 marked my 11th year in Africa on our quest to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. I can tell you that we are winning the battle, but it is difficult. When we started more than a decade ago, many countries had thousands of cases of polio annually. Slowly we are narrowing it down and beating it back.

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