CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Rotary International continues to be close to the eradication of polio throughout the world.  That was the message from speaker Sathya Lingaraju-Durkac of the Titusville Rotary Club at a recent meeting of the Clarion Rotary Club.

(Pictured above: Clarion Rotary President Stephanie Wilshire (left), Polio Speaker Sathya Lingaraju-Durkac (right) and husband Steve of the Titusville Rotary Club.) 

The 1952 polio epidemic in the United States killed 3,145 people, paralyzed 21,269, and included 58,000 cases.

Durkak made the following points about Rotary and polio:

• Rotary and its partners are making progress along a multi-year plan to end polio. Only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan – have never stopped transmission of the disease.

• In 2014, Rotary celebrated one of the world’s greatest achievements in global health: India being certified as polio free. India was once considered the hardest place on earth to stop polio. India’s success proves polio can be stopped even in he most challenging conditions.

• Africa has not seen a new case of polio since August of 2014.

• Nigeria, the then only remaining endemic country in the African Region, was removed from the list of polio endemic countries in September of 2015.

• In September of 2015, wild poliovirus type 2 was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization. The last case of type 3 wild poliovirus was November 10, 2012. This strongly indicates all but one strain of the wild poliovirus has been completely eliminated.

• Through the “End Polio Now: Make History Today” campaign, every dollar rotary contributed to polio eradication up to $35 million per year through 2018 will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

• Rotary has contributed more than $1.5 billion and committed countless volunteer hours to fight the disease.