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World Looks Anxiously To Pakistan, Afghanistan And Nigeria To Eradicate Polio

This article is more than 9 years old.

Polio, once a global monster, is now a cornered rat, lashing out in hopes of repopulating. Reduced 99.9 percent from an average number of cases around 400,000 thirty years ago, the number of global polio cases has been cut to around 400 annually. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative hopes to see the final case of polio either late this year or early next year. All polio cases, regardless of where they are found, now originate from three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. You can count the number of cases this year in Afghanistan or Nigeria on your fingers; the end of polio there is clearly within reach.

All three countries have been impacted by conflict in recent years, making the battle against polio at this critical stage challenging. The battle is so pitched that the World Health Organization or WHO, declared a "public health emergency" in an effort to garner greater cooperation among countries to prevent the spread of polio, especially from the three endemic countries.

Rotary, one of the partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, along with the CDC, WHO and UNICEF with tremendous financial support from The Gates Foundation, has brought the three national Polio Plus Committee heads from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria to its global headquarters in Evanston, Illinois this week. Forbes has received an exclusive opportunity to visit with them live on Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at 4:10 PM Eastern. Aziz Memon of Pakistan, Dr. Abdulrahman Olatunji Funsho of Nigeria and Mohammad Ishaq Niazmand of Afghanistan will join us then.

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More about Rotary:

Rotary is a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members from more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world.

More about PolioPlus:

Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication, in 1985. Since then, Rotary and its partners have helped reduce the number of annual cases from 350,000 to fewer than 250 and remain committed until every child is safe from the disease. Rotary has contributed more than US$1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $9 billion to the effort.

Aziz Memom, Polio Plus Chair, Pakistan

Memom's bio:

Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for Pakistan: Aziz has been involved with Rotary for more than 20 years, and has lead Rotary’s polio eradication efforts in Pakistan as Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for the country for the past five years. During his term, he has worked closely with a range of partners and stakeholders to end polio in his country, including WHO, UNICEF, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), government officials and departments, ulemas and religious scholars, celebrities, corporate executives from multinational companies and Rotarians from around the world. The Pakistani government recognized his efforts towards humanitarian and public service by awarding him the “Pride of Performance” award in March 2011, a recognition given by the President of Pakistan. Mr. Memon is also Chairman of the Kings Group, a conglomerate of five companies and one of the leading manufacturing and exporting groups in Pakistan. Aziz is based in Karachi, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Karachi.

Niazmand's bio:

Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for Afghanistan: Ishaq has been a dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Jalalabad since it was established in 2005, and he has been involved with Rotary for more than 15 years. He started his tenure as Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for Afghanistan in 2013. In this role, Ishaq has worked closely with partners such as the National Expanded Immunization Program of the Ministry of Health, USAID, AUAID, CIDA and GPEI partners such as WHO, UNICEF and CDC. Ishaq has a strong professional background working with educational institutions (Nanharhar University; Borlaug Institute of Texas A&M University) and NGOs (UNESCO; International Foundation of Hope).

Dr. Funsho's bio:

Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for Nigeria: Tunji, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, has been a Rotary member since 1985. Dr. Funsho is a past member of the Rotary Club of Kano, and is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Lekki. He has been Rotary’s National PolioPlus Chair for Nigeria since 2013, and in that role, has worked closely with GPEI partner organizations (WHO, UNICEF, CDC and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), as well as the Dangote Foundation, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, the Traditional Leaders Council and the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN). As a member of the Presidential Task Force on Polio, he also works with the Minister of State for Health, the Inter-Agency Coordination Committee for Polio Eradication, and more.