Working to Eradicate Polio

Nigeria reaches crucial polio milestone

By Ryan Hyland

Volunteers vaccinate children in Maiduguri, Nigeria, against polio, marking the houses they’ve visited.
Photo by Andrew Esiebo

It’s been three years since health officials last reported a case of polio caused by the wild poliovirus in Nigeria. The milestone, reached on 21 August, means that it’s possible for the entire World Health Organization (WHO) African region to be certified wild poliovirus-free next year.

Nigeria’s success is the result of several sustained efforts, including domestic and international financing, the commitment of thousands of health workers, and strategies to immunize children who previously couldn’t be reached because of a lack of security in the country’s northern states.

“Rotary, its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, and the Nigerian government have strengthened immunization and disease detection systems,” says Michael K. McGovern, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. He adds: “We are now reaching more children than ever in some of the hardest-to-reach places in Nigeria.”

McGovern says Rotary members in Nigeria play an important role in ridding the country of the disease. “Rotarians have been hard at work raising awareness for polio eradication, advocating with the government, and addressing other basic health needs to complement polio eradication efforts, like providing clean water to vulnerable communities.”

Nigeria is the last country in Africa where polio is endemic. Once Africa is certified as free of the wild poliovirus, five of the WHO’s six regions will be free of wild polio. Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which means transmission of the virus has never been stopped.

Dr. Tunji Funsho, chair of Rotary’s Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee, acknowledges the milestone but cautions Rotary members about celebrating too soon. He cites the challenge of making certain that routine immunizations reach every child in Nigeria.

“It’s paramount that we ensure all doors are locked to the re-entry of the wild poliovirus into our country,” says Funsho.

Funsho says to achieve this, Rotary needs to maintain strong advocacy efforts, continue to increase awareness of immunization campaigns, and ensure members raise necessary funds. Rotary has contributed $268 million to fight polio in Nigeria.

“As the first organization to dream of a polio-free world, Rotary is committed to fulfilling our promise,” says McGovern. “Our progress in Nigeria is a big step toward that goal, but we need to maintain momentum so that Pakistan and Afghanistan see the same level of progress.”

Join Rotary on World Polio Day, 24 October, to celebrate our progress. Help us reach our goal of a polio-free world by donating today.

Meet our President for 2023-24

President John de Ridder


John joined the Rotary Club of Nelson Bay, D9670 in March 2013 and transferred to E-Club Serving Humanity in June 2021.

John de Ridder is recognized locally and internationally as an experienced telecommunications economist. Since leaving Telstra in 2002, he has worked locally for private corporations, regulators and governments. Sometimes, this work is performed as a sub-contractor to a larger consultant (eg GQI Consulting , NERA and LECG).

John’s eighteen year career at Telstra included stints as Chief Economist, Pricing Manager and Director Strategic Studies.

These roles put him at the cutting edge of developments such as universal service costing and the evolution of competition and regulation. John writes the “Economuse” column for the weekly on-line “CommsWire” newsletter and for the Telecommunications Journal of Australia.

Before joining Telstra, John held various positions in Australia and the UK. In Australia he worked as an economist for ICI and as the research manager for IBIS Consulting. In London he worked for Shell International as an economist and for DRI-McGraw Hill as a macro-economic forecaster and in sales.

PIMD partners with Sri Lankan Universities to deliver teacher training

PIMD has partnered with the University of Jaffna and the Eastern University of Sri Lanka to offer the PIMD teacher training as short courses through their online and distance learning centres. The first course to be offered is “Teaching Phonological Awareness and Phonics for English in Schools”. 700 primary English teachers applied for the first round in December 2022. The course will run multiple times in 2023 to allow all of these teachers to participate. Further collaboration with the Universities is planned.

Our support of KIVA

When we established our online Rotary E-Club Serving Humanity with members from different locations and backgrounds we thought it would benefit our members to build a relationship together assisting less fortunate people in countries other than where we live and work.

One of the Rotary avenues of service is International Service and KIVA allows us to contribute to small projects and entrepreneurs in many countries.

What is KIVA?

More than 1.7 billion people around the world do not have access to banks and cannot access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international non-profit organisation, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.

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PIMD feeds the children in Sri Lanka

In June-July 2022 the Sri Lanka English Literacy project changed gears in response to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. The project provided funds to 15 schools to cover the cost of providing a nutritious meal per day for every student for a month. Teachers told us that students were coming to school hungry and in some cases starving. Because the funds went directly to schools and then into local communities, the cost was one-third of much larger donor-led programs channelled from overseas and through Colombo. Thank you to our supporters who donated to this appeal. 

Sharing new skills

Orkeeswa School in rural Tanzania encourages students to be curious, to learn new skills and to share new skills with others.

Form 4 (year 10) students Naini and Nang’idai learned how to play the trumpet from one of their teachers, then shared their skills with other students and members of their community church. When their teacher left, Naini and Nang’idai took over the running of the school trumpet club. They taught pre-form one students, and helped them to improve their English at the same time. Naini and Nang’idai are developing skills in leadership and teaching through running the club. Naini said that through teaching music, she has connected with many students and improved her relationships with them. Nang’idai has helped her church group to write a Maasai song using the skills she has passed on.

See more youth-produced and inspired stories at Orkeeswa Story Lab

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