Rotary Club of Accra-Airport organises fundraising event to support polio eradication
The Rotary Club of Accra-Airport has organised a fundraising and awareness event in Accra to support ongoing efforts to eradicate polio globally.
The event, which brought together Rotarians, community leaders, healthcare professionals and representatives from other international organisations, was held as part of activities to mark World Polio Day, which is observed every year on October 24 to raise awareness of the global effort to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio)
Global campaign
The District Governor, Nana Yaa Siriboe, described Rotary’s global campaign against polio as one of the most ambitious humanitarian missions in history, emphasising that the fight was nearing its end but required continued support from governments, donors, and global health partners.
“We are the generation that can end polio forever. But we must choose to finish strong. As long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere,” she said.
She highlighted Rotary’s monumental achievements since launching the PolioPlus initiative in 1985, which had reduced global polio cases by 99.9 per cent—from over 350,000 cases annually in 125 countries to fewer than 25 cases worldwide currently.
Africa, she noted, was certified free of the wild poliovirus in August 2020.
Nana Siriboe also outlined the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s 2026 Action Plan, which focused on targeting investments in high-risk areas such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, expanding new vaccination strategies, including the novel oral polio vaccine, integrating more systematically with health partners, strengthening national surveillance and laboratory capacities and intensifying nationwide vaccination campaigns in endemic countries.
Despite the tremendous progress made, she cautioned that a funding gap of US$1.7 million remained, urging for full political and financial commitment to close it.
“Here in Ghana, we have done so well that we do not have any circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (CVDPV2) cases to report. But as we know, polio somewhere means the work is not completed,” the District Governor stated.
Commendation
The President of the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport, Kojo Nunoo, commended the club’s members for their dedication to the cause, describing the annual breakfast fundraiser as a vital event for raising both awareness and funds for Rotary International’s global eradication campaign.
He revealed that the club had become the first and only 100 per cent Polio Plus Society Club in District 9104, meaning every member had committed to contributing at least US$100 annually to the Polio Plus Fund.
“Our total contributions now stand at US$118,884, but our work is far from done. As long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere,” Mr Nunoo said.
