Letter to the Prime Minister To Re-Engage with Polio Eradication

I sent off this letter today upon Rotary Australia's request to all clubs to send to the PM regarding the re-engagement of polio eradication program.

Prime Minister,

At the recent Rotary International Convention in New Orleans, USA, the subject of polio eradication was raised by Keynote Speaker Bill Gates, Jr, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated in excess of $US1.3 billion, $US355 million of which has been channelled through Rotary International’s
End Polio Now Campaign.

The polio campaign began when an Australian, Clem Renouf, was President of Rotary International in 1978-79. Rotarians in Australia and around the world have been working tirelessly in all the polio-endemic countries − there are only four left − and have since donated in excess of $1.3 billion. Our latest fundraising effort to raise $US200 million is nearing completion, in line with the effort to finally rid the world of this insidious disease.

You may recall the situation that arose when one polio-infected man from Pakistan landed in Melbourne along with 238 passengers aboard a Thai Airlines flight in 2007, a situation that reinforced the argument that nobody is safe from this disease until worldwide eradication is complete.

In addressing delegates to the recent convention, Mr Gates gave examples of admirable efforts by Governments around the world such as Canada, which in 2008 donated $60 million, the USA, which is committed to spending $130 million a year, the UK, which announced in January that it would invest more than £60 million over the next two years and the United Arab Emirates, whose Crown Prince has donated $US17 million.

Almost 500 Australian delegates to the convention among 19,000 others from all over the world were then disappointed to hear Mr Gates take the Australian Government, among others, to task: “Donors that were once involved, that have fallen away — like Australia, Germany, and France — need to re-engage.”

Mr Gates* then urged Rotarians in these countries to, “Make sure that your politicians know about polio and its urgency. Go and tell them about the need to finish. Invite them to your meetings. And when they visit, don’t let them leave without telling them you expect them to be champions in this fight, and that you’ll be holding them accountable for what they do”.

Therefore, as one of more than 35,000 Rotarians in Australia, I am writing to you to respectfully request that the Federal Government join us and re-engage in the worldwide polio eradication campaign with an appropriate continuing financial commitment until such time as the world is declared polio-free.

Australian Rotarians have fought polio for more than 25 years. We are 99 per cent of the way there and we need your help to complete the task.

Yours Sincerely

President
Rotary Club of Moorleigh Moorabbin