Global Poverty Project and The End of Polio
Jul 17, 2012

Global efforts to rid the world of polio have delivered incredible results in the last 60 years:

• The number of polio cases worldwide has been dramatically reduced by 99% (representing a drop from 350,000 cases to 650).
• More than 2 billion children have been immunized, and more than 8 million have been saved from life-long paralysis or death.
• The number of polio-endemic countries has been reduced from 125 to 3.
• In January, the world reached a remarkable milestone in the fight to eradicate polio – 12 months without a case of polio in India for the first time in history.

However, the disease continues to threaten children in some of the world’s poorest communities, and as of 2012, remains endemic in 3 countries: Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Progress towards eradication is currently at risk, with the critical work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative constrained by a funding gap of almost $1 billion for 2012-2013.
Polio is an acute, viral disease spread from person to person. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis and even death. It is highly infectious, and can have debilitating impacts. While it can strike anyone, at any age, the disease mainly affects children under five years old. It is imperative that we rid the world of this disease as soon as possible.
That’s why the Global Poverty Project is working with partners to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and make the end of polio a reality. We have already had some incredible achievements in this fight, but there is still a ways to go to reach complete global eradication – and we need your support to get there.
As our video below highlights, we are building a global movement to end polio. We believe that together, we can be part of the generation to see an end to this disease. To do this, we need your support.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1xyXR8Wsx4I]
We can all play a role in ensuring that polio is completely eradicated.
This year, we’re calling on delegates to the United Nations General Assembly to announce further funding for polio eradication, to help close the funding gap that’s currently leaving millions of children vulnerable.
The End of Polio campaign is:

• Asking you to demonstrate your support by signing The End of Polio petition.
• Meeting with key decision-makers to ask our governments to give to the GPEI and commit to realizing the end of polio.
• Sharing the remarkable stories of progress in fighting polio through the media and online.
• Holding events to demonstrate support for ending polio.

We have proved that the eradication of polio is possible – please join us in the final push, and become part of the generation to see an end to polio.
Thank you.
Dorothy McGonigal
Global Poverty Project

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