The Torre del Oro tower lights up to symbolize the fight against polio

The Golden Tower was illuminated on the night of Thursday, October 24, in honor of World Polio Day. This celebration is an annual initiative of the Rotary Club of Seville, which this year received support from other local Rotary clubs. Since its founding, Rotary, which has more than 34,000 clubs and more than 1.3 million members worldwide, has played a critical role in polio eradication, beginning in 1985 with PolioPlus, its first global vaccination program.

Ismael Mora, president of the Rotary Club of Seville, stated that “no child should have polio because it is preventable through vaccination. That is why we carry out such actions and do not relax our vigilance in this matter, making our contribution to raising public awareness.” In Spain and many countries around the world, polio has been virtually eradicated. The vaccine was introduced in Spain in 1963, which significantly reduced the number of sick children. The last case of wild polio in Spain was reported in 1983.

In 1985, when Rotary launched the PolioPlus program, the disease was affecting more than 1,000 children every day. Currently, only sporadic cases are reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries where the disease still persists. To date, 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated against the disease, which is paralyzing and fatal in many cases.

Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has donated more than $2.5 billion and devoted countless volunteer hours to the cause. Since 2018, for every dollar Rotary contributes to polio eradication, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute an additional two dollars, up to a maximum of $50 million per year.

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