DISCURSOS - Rotary International

The results have already been incredible: In 2012, the world saw the greatest advances in the last
10 years toward ending polio.
One year ago, over 600 children were still being paralyzed in 16 countries; today, we have the
fewest number of polio cases, in the fewest number of countries ever. This is the first time ever
that polio has been found in only five countries.
As a result, you — the Rotary leaders of 2013-14 — have a tremendous responsibility: You have
been given the greatest opportunity in history to end this disease forever, and to seal the great
legacy of your great organization, in perpetuity.
We are here because of Rotary — we can only finish with Rotary’s leadership.
Before we look at the challenges in front of us, let’s recognize the work of some Rotarians who
have gotten us to this point.
In Nigeria, Rotarians have been trudging the tough streets of Kano to reach children with the polio
vaccine. In Chad, which has now been polio-free for nearly six months, Rotarians have been
vaccinating and motivating. In Afghanistan, Rotarians have been raising awareness to ensure that
all elements of society help rid their country of this dreadful disease. And in Pakistan, which had
the greatest progress of all last year, Rotarians have been mobilizing leaders like the captain of
their revered cricket team to champion PolioPlus.
As important is the effort of Rotarians in polio-free countries, like in Germany, where they are
raising awareness of the End Polio Now challenge, and in Australia, with a lighting of the Sydney
Opera House to share the PolioPlus story with politicians and the public, helping the broader
fundraising and advocacy effort.
In 2013-14, governors will need to mobilize every Rotarian for the nearly impossible part of the
polio eradication battle. Every effort, every fundraiser, by every club is vital.
So now let’s talk about the nearly impossible part of polio eradication — finishing the job in
Nigeria, Afghanistan, and especially Pakistan. Every Rotary governor must understand the real
risks we face, and what we are doing about them.
Here are highlights of the biggest risks in each of the last three endemic areas:
• In Nigeria, the minister of health has just launched a new Emergency Operations Center
to lead an intensified push in that country and prevent any new international spread.
• In Afghanistan, we’ve just deployed a new surge of technical assistance to negotiate
local access even more intensively with all sides in the conflict.
• In Pakistan, a multipronged approach has been launched in response to the violence we
are seeing in the run-up to this year’s elections — violence that has already had a horrific
impact, with nine polio workers killed in December.
This intensive approach combines short- and medium-term interventions to immediately improve
the security and safety of vaccination teams in Pakistan, while aggressively tackling the conditions
that contributed to these terrible attacks.
We already have new evidence that this approach is working: During your governor training over
the past two days, vaccination teams in Pakistan — working in close coordination with police and
with huge community support — have again successfully vaccinated in key districts that suffered
some of the worst attacks just last month.
24 International Assembly Speeches 2013