Latest polio Stories

New cases at lowest levels ever, but funding gap threatens progress GENEVA, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite the dramatic drop in polio cases in the last year, the threat of continued transmission due to funding and immunization gaps has driven the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to launch an Emergency Action Plan. The plan aims to boost vaccination coverage in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the three remaining polio endemic countries, to levels needed...

EVANSTON, Ill., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rotary International, as a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, strongly supports the World Health Assembly considering a resolution that would declare polio eradication a global emergency for public health. Rotarians know that while recent progress against this disease gives the world the best opportunity ever to succeed, the consequences of failure are unimaginable - a true global health emergency....

U.S. Government leads public sector support in reducing polio cases by 99% EVANSTON, Ill., April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rotary International will recognize seven members of Congress as Polio Eradication Champions on April 24, at the United States Capitol Building. Rotary established the Polio Eradication Champion Award in 1995 to honor heads of state and others who have made a significant global contribution to ending polio. Since the 1980s, the United States...

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO) THURSDAY APRIL 12: POLIO VACCINE Profile America -- Thursday, April 12th. On this date in 1955, the nation was loudly celebrating great medical news. Dr. Jonas Salk announced a vaccine against polio -- the most feared disease of that era. Polio affects the nervous system, causing...

Historic first visit to Afghanistan by humanitarian organization's top leader EVANSTON, Ill., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee made history April 2 when he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul to encourage continued national support for the campaign to eradicate the crippling disease polio. He is the first Rotary president to visit Afghanistan. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120404/DC82417)...

Gates Foundation announces an additional $50 million to end polio SAN DIEGO, Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite a stagnant global economy, Rotary clubs around the world have succeeded in raising more than US$200 million in new funding for polio eradication. The fundraising milestone, announced today at Rotary's annual International Assembly in San Diego, was reached in response to a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All funds...

SEATTLE, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Health leaders around the world today will acknowledge an important achievement in the fight against polio as India marks one year since the last recorded case of wild poliovirus in the country. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please visit: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/49366-gates-foundation-commends-india-on-one-year-polio-free (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120112/MM33841 ) This success...

Declaring the eradication of polio will be far more difficult than it was for smallpox, according to a review published in the Journal of General Virology. Further research into the complex virus - host interactions and how the vaccine is used in the final stages of the eradication program is crucial to its success. Poliomyelitis, also known as infantile paralysis, was one of the most feared diseases of the 1950s. By the mid 1970s, thanks to vaccination, the viral disease had been...

Boxing legend works through his Rotary club to keep a crippling childhood disease from rebounding off the ropes EVANSTON, Ill., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As he prepares for Saturday night's showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao also has his sights set on another, far more dangerous opponent: the crippling childhood disease polio. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111108/DC02917) Pacquiao...

Live virus used in polio vaccine can evolve and infect, warns TAU researcher Health professionals and researchers across the globe believe they are on the verge of eradicating polio, a devastating virus which can lead to paralysis and death. Despite successful eradication in most countries, there are still four countries where the virus is considered endemic — and many more in which the virus still lurks. Dr. Lester Shulman of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the...