About this class

In honor of World Polio Day 2021, which is widely recognized on October 24, the Rotary Clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa-Parkwood and Durham College, on behalf of the 11 Rotary Clubs in Durham Region (plus Port Hope) are co-hosting and livestreaming “World Polio Day 2021 LIVE from the Rotary Global Classroom at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario Canada” located in the Centre for Collaborative Education at Durham College on Thursday, October 21, 2021.

During the World Polio Day 2021 from Durham College , we will also be livestreaming Rotary International’s ninth annual World Polio Day video, as we celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Dr. Bob Scott – (Past Vice President of Rotary International, Past Chair of the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation and Past Chair of the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee) will be updating the world-wide audience about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio. He will be talking LIVE with Shekhar Mehta, the President of Rotary International, Valarie Wafer, the current Vice-President and Director of Rotary International, Mike McGovern, the current Chair of the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee and LIVE with Dr. Tunji Funsho Chair of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, as they all discuss what Rotary is doing to eradicate polio from the world, the challenges ahead, and what we can do to help.

We will also hear from Jennifer Jones, the 2022-23 President of Rotary International, as she also talks about the Rotary’s world-wide efforts to eradicate polio from the world.

We will see proclamations being presented to the 10 Rotary Clubs in Durham Region from Durham Regional Chair John Henry (a fellow Oshawa Rotarian), and from the Mayors of the 8 municipalities in Durham Region. They all proclaim October 24 as World Polio Day, thanking the local Rotary Clubs for their efforts to raise funds and create awareness about our efforts to eradicate polio from the face of the earth.

We will also see End Polio Now Flags flying high over many of the cities in Durham Region, the municipality of 700,000 just east of Toronto.

We will take as many questions as possible and direct them to our guests.

Background:

The world is on the verge of eliminating one of the most dreaded diseases of the 20th century — poliomyelitis. During the first half of the 20th century, polio crippled over a half a million people every year. Even today, children in some developing countries continue to fall victim to the disease. But thanks in large part to Rotary International and to the 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide, including the 10 Durham Region Rotary Clubs, the disease will soon be all but a memory.

As World Polio Day draws closer, the world is 99.9% polio-free, the fight to end polio is not over and Rotary Clubs world-wide continue to raise funds to meet the challenge.

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, to 2 cases year to date in 2021 – one each on Afghanistan and Pakistan. We remain committed to the end.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed in 1988, is a public-private partnership that includes Rotary, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and governments of the world. Rotary’s focus is advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and awareness-building.

Since 1985, Rotary members world-wide have contributed nearly US$ 2.2 billion to help immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio, and we have helped secure billions of dollars from donor governments worldwide. Coinciding with World Polio Day, Rotary is ramping up its advocacy work in the 200 countries and regions where Rotary clubs exist, to encourage every national government to commit to the funding levels needed to close the gap.

With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Again this year, Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.

Speakers:

Dr. Bob Scott – (Past Vice President of Rotary International, Past Chair of the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation and Past Chair of the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee) will be updating the world-wide audience about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio. He will be talking LIVE with Shekhar Mehta, President of Rotary International, Valarie Wafer, the current Vice-President and Director of Rotary International, Mike McGovern, the current Chair of the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee and LIVE with Dr. Tunji Funsho Chair of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, as they all discuss what Rotary is doing to eradicate polio from the world, the challenges ahead, and what we can do to help.

We will also hear from a special guest – Jennifer Jones, the 2022-23 President of Rotary International, as she also talks about the Rotary’s world-wide efforts to eradicate polio from the world.

We will also livestream Rotary International’s End Polio Now Update from 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Questions and answers:

We will take as many questions as possible and direct them to our guests.

We encourage everyone to join us as the Rotary Clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa-Parkwood partner with Durham College in the Rotary Global Classroom in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and see for yourself how close we are to eradicating polio from this world.

World Polio Day Banner
World Polio Day Banner
World Polio Day Banner

Host


Guests


Dr. Bob Scott, Rotary International Past Vice-President and Past Chair of Rotary International Polio Plus Committee

Bob was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and received a medical degree with distinction in de...

Valarie K. Wafer, Rotary International Vice President 2021-22 & Director 2020-22

Valarie Wafer joined Rotary in 2005 in order to fuel her passion for making an impact that matters. ...

Jennifer Jones, Rotary International President 2022-23

Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, has been nomina...

Michael K. McGovern, Chair of Rotary International Polio Plus Committee

Mike McGovern joined Rotary in 1986 as a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth,...

Dr. Tunji Funsho, Chair of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee

Chair of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, Tunji, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nige...

Resources