Polio Type 3 Eradicated

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Carol Pandak, director of PolioPlus for Rotary International announced in this episode of the Your Mark on the World Show recorded on October 22, 2019 that wild poliovirus type three has been officially eradicated.

“The achievement of polio eradication will be a milestone for global health. Commitment from partners and countries, coupled with innovation, means of the three wild polio serotypes, only type one remains,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization and Chair of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Polio Oversight Board in a statement.

“We remain fully committed to ensuring that all necessary resources are made available to eradicate all poliovirus strains. We urge all our other stakeholders and partners to also stay the course until final success is achieved,” he added.

Interview with Carol Pandak, the Director of PolioPlus of Rotary International.

What is your personal or professional connection to polio?

The global effort to eradicate polio is historic, and I’m honored to be part of a global program that protects children from polio.

Where are you presently focused?

We’ve made tremendous progress in the fight to end polio and we remain optimistic as we focus on addressing the challenges to eradication and ending all forms of poliovirus for good.

How do we get from where we are to total polio eradication?

By ensuring every child under the age of five gets vaccinated, but also by listening to–and addressing–the needs of the communities we’re engaging with. Building trust in the communities where we need to work is critical to our success.

More about Rotary International:

Twitter: @Rotary and @EndPolioNow

Facebook: facebook.com/rotary and facebook.com/EndPolioNow

Instagram: @rotaryinternational

Website: rotary.org and endpolio.org

Rotary brings together people of action from all continents and cultures who deliver real, long-term solutions to the world’s most persistent issues. Each year, Rotary members contribute millions of dollars and volunteer hours to promote health, peace and prosperity in communities across the globe. Rotary is the driving force behind efforts to eradicate polio. With its partners, they have achieved a 99.9 percent reduction in polio, with less than 35 cases reported in 2018 compared with 350,000 a year three decades ago.

Carol Pandak. Photo Credit: Rotary International

Carol Pandak’s bio:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-pandak-31180211/

Carol Pandak is the director of PolioPlus, Rotary’s global effort to eradicate polio, working in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has held this position since 2000.

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