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Spotlight: Rotary leads fight against polio

Posted at 11:25 pm October 29, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

‘We are this close to ending polio’

Rotary International, which includes some 1.3 million members in 33,000 clubs in more than 200 countries around the world, celebrated October 24 as World Polio Day.

Since 1985, Rotary has led the battle against polio, as worldwide cases plummeted from 350,000 per year to several hundred—a 99 percent reduction.

“This is a source of pride to Rotarians everywhere,” says District Governor Jerry Wear of Rotary District 6780, which includes East Tennessee. “In our relentless fundraising efforts and our participation in inoculation days around the world, Rotarians are committed to carrying this important mission to completion.”

Today, polio is endemic in only three countries—Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. When India came off that list in 2012, it was an important step toward eradicating a human disease from the earth for only the second time in history. (The first disease so eradicated was smallpox.) [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Honors and Spotlight, Nonprofits Tagged With: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Sergeant, East Tennessee, Gates Foundation, Global Polio Eradication Initiative, James Lacey, Jerry Wear, John Germ, Oak Ridge Rotary Club, polio, Rotary, Rotary Club of Chattanooga, Rotary District 6780, Rotary International, World Polio Day

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Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

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