Let’s End Polio—Now!

This is how close we are to wiping out polio entirely…

The following is a post sponsored by Rotary International. For our sponsored post policy, click here.

Remember when we worked with Rotary International this past summer for that rockin’ Twitter party on racing for a good cause? Well, we are thrilled and honored to work with them again to do more good in the world. That’s why over the course of the next six months, we will be posting, Tweeting and Facebooking about their campaign End Polio Now.

Many people don’t realize how close we are to eradicating polio totally. In fact—and this is something we learned, too—we’re a whopping 99 percent of the way there. Awesome, right? Right, but it’s time to get that 1 percent taken care of. Like now. That’s why Rotary International, along with the Bill Gates Foundation and celebrities like Al Roker, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jackie Chan and others, are spreading the word that we are “this close” to eradicating polio across the globe.

Here are a few facts you should know about what has historically been the world’s greatest cause of disability…

Polio Facts

• A crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease, polio (poliomyelitis) still strikes children mainly under the age of five in countries in Asia and Africa.
• Polio can cause paralysis and sometimes death. Because there is no cure for polio, 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.
• Polio can cause paralysis within hours, and polio paralysis is almost always irreversible.
• In the most severe cases, polio attacks the motor neurons of the brain stem, causing breathing difficulty or even death.
• If polio isn’t eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children will be paralyzed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalize on its $9-billion global investment in eradication.

So that’s the not-so-good news. But the good news? It’s incredibly simple to take action and make a difference! By visiting EndPolio.org you can not only donate any amount you wish (large or small, it all counts!), but you can also take part in the World’s Biggest Commercial in a show of solidarity and to raise awareness for the complete eradication of polio. For the campaign, people around the world are uploading their photos and making their own “this close” gesture to join the commercial, and sharing the news with their blogs and social networks to make sure that we finish the fight to eradicate this terrible—and completely preventable—disease.

So check it out, upload your photo, donate and definitely hop on the Twitter and use the hashtag #EndPolio to join in the conversation with @EndPolioNow on this important issue. Also, be sure to follow the campaign on Facebook. And pretty please, help spread the word by sharing this post with your friends and loved ones! The more we can spread the word, the faster we’ll get to that 100 percent goal!

So come on! We are this close to completely eliminating the second human disease in modern history! Together, we can do it! —Jenn