Following the U.S. State Department’s February termination of USAID grant funding, including UNICEF’s polio immunization program, Rotary’s Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force for the United States has had meetings with government leaders to advocate for resumption of U.S. investment in polio eradication efforts. In March, members of the task force visited the capital to speak with leaders from all parties. In early April, Rotarian, task force member,  and polio survivor John Nanni testified before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs about his personal experience with polio and Rotary’s ongoing commitment to its eradication. See a short, 1 minute video excerpt here. Download and read his full comments here.

He highlighted key beneficial results of the United States’ former polio eradication partnership with Rotary, including:

• • Reducing the number of children paralyzed by polio worldwide by 99.9% since 1988
  • Preventing over 1.8 million cases of polio
  • Through immunization, averting over 20,000 polio-related deaths in the U.S. from 1994-2023
  • Globally, more than twenty million people are walking or alive today because of polio eradication efforts
    

And, he made several key points, such as:

• • As long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere
  • U.S. Investment in polio eradication keeps Americans safer
  • U.S. investment in global polio eradication contributes to American prosperity
  • Investment in global polio eradication has made the U.S. stronger