June 2025
PolioPlus at the Rotary International Convention
We are excited to see so many of our PolioPlus supporters at the 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary. Come by the House of Friendship and you’ll find the PolioPlus booth in the Rotary Village, a special exhibit featuring the creations from our polio miniatures campaign, and REM5 Studios will be back with a new VR experience. Be sure to save space in your schedule for our breakout sessions on 24 and 25 June.
From hope to history: how we defeated polio in the Western Pacific
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the World Health Organization’s certification of the Western Pacific Region as polio-free. To commemorate this anniversary, we invited Dr. Shigeru Omi, who led the WHO’s polio eradication efforts in the region from start to finish, to reflect on the story behind that victory.
A hidden ‘army’ is on the frontlines of immunization in Pakistan
Community health workers, many of them volunteers, play increasingly important roles in health care systems around the globe. And they’re essential to Rotary’s health initiatives — especially the fight against polio and other diseases. Israr Ul Haq, social and behavioral change specialist for UNICEF, recently talked about the demands of finding, training, and managing nearly half a million community health workers in Pakistan.
Learn more about community health workers
The Final Push: A polio survivor’s story
In September of 2023, the Gates Foundation partnered with the Moth – an award-winning storytelling nonprofit organization – to host an event in New York City during the UN General Assembly. The event, Don’t Stop Now: Stories from the Final Push to End Polio, highlighted the personal stories of people whose lives have been impacted by polio. One of the speakers was Safia Ibrahim, a polio survivor and global health advocate. In this episode from the Rotary Voices podcast, you’ll hear Ibrahim’s story as told on the Moth stage.
Building infodemic resilience: A public health imperative in the age of vaccine misinformation
Epidemiology asks us where, when, why, and to whom a disease is spreading, and how it impacts population health. Infodemiology asks those same questions, but about the information that is spreading, and how it impacts population decision-making. Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious disease epidemiologist, breaks down vaccine misinformation and how to combat it on the Rotary 360 blog.
World Immunization Week Recap
Thank you to everyone who participated in World Immunization Week! Whether you shared an article, watched a video, or encouraged others to get vaccinated, you helped remind the world of the importance of vaccines. Here’s some content highlights from Rotary and our immunization partners:
- Rotary Live Conversation with Ade Adepitan
- Rotary Live Conversation with Public Health Experts
- Health ministers renew urgent call to end polio in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
- Pakistan: the women heroes of polio eradication
- An impassioned dislike for polio
- This Polio Survivor is Using Sport to Combat Vaccine Hesitancy in Nigeria
- Vaccinations save lives: A conversation with global health experts
- A WHO director on the future of polio eradication