Recently, I travelled to Poughkeepsie, New York to give a presentation to a group of students who are members of the Rotary International Interact Club. Each year, the Interact students pick an international project to support, and this year they chose UNICEF’s School-in-a-Box.
After a warm introduction from the principal, the Interact district advisor and the student president, I gave a presentation on UNICEF School-in-a-Box, while also highlighting the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s longstanding partnership with Rotary International. I talked about the impact that School-in-a-Box has had all over the world, and shared photos and stories about the School-in-a-Box kits used in Pakistan, Haiti and beyond.
More than 50 years ago, this crippling, potentially deadly disease afflicted scores of people around the world, including countless victims in the United States. Polio preyed upon young and old, cutting short lives and withering limbs and futures. In 1955, a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and his team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh was approved for widespread use, and polio rates in the U.S. soon plummeted.
The Americas were certified polio-free by the World Health Organization in 1994, and in many parts of the world this fierce, highly infectious viral disease was seemingly banished to the yellowing pages of history.
But in numerous developing countries, where not everyone had access to the vaccine, polio continued to exact its vicious toll. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
Well, sort of. If you’re a documentary film junkie like me, then you may know that one of the Academy Award nominees for best documentary short this year was a film called “The Final Inch.” The film shows the work of UNICEF and partners like Rotary International to
Thirty years ago, only one out of five children were immunized against killer diseases like measles and polio. Throughout the developing world, millions of children were dying of illnesses that had all but disappeared in the world’s wealthier countries. Since then, a near miracle has taken place. Now, four out of five children are protected by vaccines. Polio is on the verge of elimination. Measles and tetanus deaths have been reduced dramatically. This miracle did not happen by itself.
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