Congressman Sherman Recognized as aChampion in the Effort to Eradicate Polio

Washington, D.C. - In recognition of his ongoing support of the effort to rid the world of polio, Rotary International on Wednesday presented Congressman Brad Sherman with its Polio Eradication Champion Award.

The United States has contributed $1.2 billion since the mid-1980s to eradicate polio. œGreat strides have been made, Sherman said. œNow, we must finish the job.

Other members of Congress recognized this year were Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Barak Obama, Jack Reed, and Congresswoman Kay Granger.

Polio, an infectious disease that can cause paralysis and sometimes death, still strikes children, mainly under the age of five, in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. There is no cure for polio, so the best protection is prevention. For as little as 60-cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.

When Rotary began its polio immunization program in the mid 1980s, approximately 1,000 children were infected by this crippling disease every day. At the end of 2005, less than 2,000 children contracted polio all year, down from the 350,000 cases estimated in 125 countries in 1988. The Americas were declared free from polio in 1994, as well as the Western Pacific region in 2000, Europe in 2002 and most recently Egypt and Niger, in February of 2006. Once eradicated, polio will be the second disease after smallpox ever to be eliminated worldwide.

Despite this success, the final phase of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is proving to be the most challenging. Reaching every child with the vaccine, including those in high-density populations and in areas of civil unrest, maintaining political commitment in the face of a disappearing disease, and a multi-million dollar funding gap are the major obstacles that still must be overcome.

Rotary International is the worlds first and one of the largest volunteer service organizations with 1.2 million members in more than 160 countries. In 1985, Rotary created PolioPlus and set one of the most ambitious goals in the history for global public health: to immunize the children of the world against polio.