Doug Whinnery provided a good history and summary the Polio Eradication campaign. 
 
 
Polio was rampant in the 1950's until a successful vaccine was developed to protect people from this debilitating virus. In the 1970's polio was eradicated in most industrialized nations, but still remained a problem in undeveloped countries. When Rotary became involved in the mid 1980's, there were still 1000 new cases per day worldwide. Rotary's involvement, along with other organizations, began to make serious progress, and today, only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, still have new cases of polio.
 
With the help of many volunteers and organizations, vaccinations continue to be administered every year. Each vaccine dose costs only 20 cents, so for a $100.00 donation, and a two to one match from the Gates Foundation, up to 1,500 doses can be given to help eradicate polio worldwide. Please consider helping out with the Polio Plus campaign this year.