Thanks to your action, the world is closer than ever to reaching the end of polio. Polio cases have been reduced by 99.9% since 1988 and leading experts believe that polio transmission can be stopped by the end of next year! This month India celebrates three years since its last case of polio, despite once being considered the most challenging place to end the disease.

Since 2011, The End of Polio campaign has worked in partnership with members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to call on world leaders to support and fund key polio eradication programs. Through the 2011 End of Polio Concert in Perth, Australia and the 2012 Global Citizen Festival in New York City, we built public support for polio eradication and called on world leaders to end polio forever.

Last spring the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) launched the Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan to achieve a polio-free world by 2018. Global leaders and philanthropists pledged $4 billion toward the $5.5 billion needed to fund the Strategic Plan through 2018. Pledges included £300 million from the British government, $250 from the Canadian government, and $1.8 billion from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The United States could not join the list of contributors at the Summit because it cannot make commitments in advance of annual Congressional appropriations.  Since the new plan was launched, Global Citizens have rallied together to call on the United States Congress to help ensure that no more children have to suffer from the scourge of polio.  Over 62,000 people have signed The End of Polio Petition, 22,000 supporters have written emails to their politicians urging them to advocate for polio eradication, and The End of Polio team has had 33 meetings on Capitol Hill to show United States leaders the groundswell of support for polio eradication.  After receiving emails from End of Polio supporters and meeting with our team, Senator Collins (R-ME) said, “As the Senate discusses the fiscal year 2014 budget, I will keep the views of those who have signed this petition for polio eradication in mind.”

Your diligent advocacy has helped build advocates for polio eradication within the Senate. Senator Kirk (R-IL) said, “I support The End of Polio campaign and hope that we can soon see a world that is free from polio.” Senator Durbin (D-IL) explains that, “We are closer than ever to ending the scourge of polio and I commend the work of Rotary and many others in advancing that goal.” 

Over the summer the Senate requested $207.1 million to help end polio, a 37% increase from the previous year. Thousands of Global Citizens joined together to thank the Senate for their commitment to end polio. Together we asked Congress to give urgent consideration to including the Senate’s request in the final budget. Just this month Congress approved a final budget for 2014 that includes $205 million for polio eradication!This is an increase of $54.2 million, or 36%, from the funding allocated to polio eradication programs in the previous year!  

Given the great difficulty securing increases for most programs in the final budget, this is a remarkable achievement in which we can all take pride.  It would not have been possible without the advocacy of Global Citizens, Rotarians, and other supporters. This increase not only strengthens the polio work of USAID and The Centers for Disease Control, it sets a standard for ongoing support by other governments who look to the US for leadership.

Send an email to Senator Leahy, Senator Graham, and Senator Moran to thank them for their leadership in the fight to end polio.

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Judith Rowland - US Campaigns Associate