Polio Plus Celebration

Posted by Bill Osborne

Approximately 200 Rotary District 6820 members and guests celebrated World Polio Day at the St. Dominic Centre's Toulouse Building on Thursday, October 24. Since Rotary International initiated its Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, global polio cases have decreased from 350,000 annually to 96 in 2018. Rotary International and its private and governmental partners have invested in excess of $5 billion in this effort. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested approx. $4 billion and Rotary International approx. $2 billion in this outstanding example of collaboration to achieve a global goal.

The following photos are from the event.

Rotarians Dr. Suman Das, Mark Anderson, Nelam Goel, and Don Roberts celebrate the progress made in eradicating polio.

North Jackson Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Don Roberts thanks the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations for its support in eradicating Polio.

Rotary International Past President John Germ in a live video report on the Polio Plus Initiative.

Flowood Rotarian Wayne Scoville discusses his life as a polio survivor.

Madison Ridgeland Rotarian Dr. Nelson Atehortua, a polio survivor, holds up a leg brace he wears. A pair of crutches and a cane are also used to aid his walking.

North Jackson Rotarian and District 6820 Polio Plus Chair, Dr. Suman Das presents the history of polio and of efforts to eradicate it.

Past District 6820 Governor Roscoe Green shows and reads a World Polio Day Proclamation by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.

District 6820 Governor Mark Fields welcomes attendees to District 6820's World Polio Celebration.

Rotary Club of North Jackson President Greg Campbell shows just how close we are to eradicating polio.

Dr. Sandor Feldman, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at UMMC, talks about the role of immunization and public health in the eradication of polio.

We thank St. Dominic Health Services, St. Dominic Hospital, the Sunray Companies, and Premier Plastic Surgery for sponsoring our event, and our presenters and speakers for their activities to make the celebration such a success.