Earlier this month, the 50th anniversary of the Salk vaccine was
noted. You may have missed it. There wasn’t much hoopla or celebration.
But those who were children in the early 1950s, or those who were
parents of young children in those days, remember all too well what a
frightening time it could be because of the threat of polio.
For years Dr. Jonas Salk studied influenza and how the virus that
caused it could be deprived of its ability to infect people. He was
able to translate this research into a vaccine against polio. It took
him eight years to perfect the vaccine. Human trials were successful
and put on a fast track. On April 12, 1955, the vaccine was announced.
It was one of the great medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Together with development of the Sabin oral vaccine (1960), polio was
quickly eradicated in the United States and other developed countries.
It has taken decades longer to end this dreaded crippler in the rest
of the world, however. And, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out last
week, that has largely been accomplished through the dedication of
Rotarians in Richfield Springs, in surrounding communities, across the
United States and around the world.
Rotary International’s long-term effort to end polio everywhere has
been done quietly but with great success. The Journal quoted an
economist as calling Rotary’s effort “the most successful private
health care initiative ever.”
When the Rotary campaign to get everyone immunized began in 1985,
there were an estimated 350,000 new cases of polio around the world.
Last year, there were fewer than 1,300, The Wall Street Journal noted
in suggesting Rotary International for the Nobel Peace Prize.
It’s a grand, selfless achievement. Rotary’s persistence and
dedication has done for the world what Salk’s vaccine made possible 50
years ago.
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