SYDNEY, Australia -- As Rotary celebrates its 109th anniversary on February 23rd, Rotary clubs around the world continue the organisation’s mission to rid the world of the crippling childhood disease polio.
Next Tuesday, the Rotary club of Sydney will be hosting 30 members from the Sydney Consular Corps to hear an address by Hugo Llorens the recently-appointed United States Consul General with responsibility for the region encompassing New South Wales, Queensland and Norfolk Island.
Previously, he served as the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from May 2012 to June 2013. In that position, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the largest Embassy in the world with a combined staff of 3,000 U.S. local and Third Country employees representing 19 U.S. government agencies.
On Saturday 1st March, SHIFT2014 (http://www.shift2014.com.au/) business conference will be held at Sydney Olympic Park. This is a Rotary District 9675 project to support businesses and community organisations to meet the commercial challenges of tough economic times and aggressive digital competition.
Rotary and polio eradication
In 1988, Rotary helped launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (http://www.polioeradication.org/) with the WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to the polio eradication effort.
Thanks to a new fundraising campaign, End Polio Now: Make History Today (http://www.endpolio.org/), recently launched by Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Foundation will match two for one every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication up to US$35 million per year through 2018.
Overall, the annual number of new polio cases has plummeted by more than 99 percent since the 1980s, when polio infected about 350,000 children a year. Only 223 new cases were recorded for all of 2012.
Polio today remains endemic in only three countries, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, although “imported” cases in previously polio-free areas – such as Syria and the Horn of Africa -- will continue to occur until the virus is finally stopped in the endemic countries.
About Rotary
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges.Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world.
Issued by: Tony Benner, Communications Director, Sydney Rotary Club, Tel. 0407 366 140
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