By Phil and Joyce Ogden, Rotary Club of South Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
My wife Joyce and I enjoy tandem cycling. Two years ago, when I met somebody who had cycled the Nullarbor Plain in Australia, a seed was planted in the back of my mind that maybe this was a challenge for us to do in the future.
We are closer than ever to ending polio. We have reduced cases by 99.9% since 1988. With our partners, Rotary has immunized more than 2.5 billion children worldwide to end polio for good. But we’re not there yet and we can’t afford to be complacent.
As a doctor, I am aware that polio is a disease which has the potential to be totally eradicated. But with a lot of distractions lately, floods, fires and droughts in Australia, war in Europe and the COVID-19 pandemic a threat in all countries, we were concerned that if Rotary took its eye off the ball, polio cases could flare up again.
