August 19, 2021 Meeting Summary

Presiding: Steve Morgan

Meeting Room setup/takedown and general problem solving: Tom Mangan & Ron Van Ekeren

Introduction of Guests: Hanna Eslinger

Guests: Pastor Eric Feuerstein, Steve Watt, and Chet Lockard

Rotaract/Interact Students:

Foundation Drawing: Ollie Walter won $10 with $78.450 in the jackpot.

O’Dwyers Drawing: Rollin Abernethy

 

 

Rotarian of the Week: John Bard nominated Tony Hoch for making the final Relay for Life donation to get the club up to $2,000!     

 

Rotarian of the Month: Dave Hansen

 

Special Presentation: Steve Morgan made a donation to the club foundation for his birthday.

 

 

 

Introduction: Steve Morgan

 

 

Many years ago, people were terrified of polio. There were people living the rest of their lives in iron lungs. You contracted the disease and within days were completely paralyzed, including your breathing muscles.

 

In the 1950s, there was success with a polio vaccine that today everyone takes for granted. This was part of an extraordinary national effort in the U.S. to eradicated polio. The last case in America was in the 1980s.

 

Eradication managed to happen fast in the U.S., but this was not the case in many places, especially in Africa and the Middle East.

 

Then in the 1990s-2000s, there were polio outbreaks in counties where there had been no cases for years. Hundreds died as the disease spread to other eradicated areas. For example, Russia had cases in 2010 for the first time in a decade.

 

While these outbreaks are now under control, this disease is still developing and moving in other areas of the world.

 

The scientific miracle of this decade should be polio eradication because it needs to be snuffed out completely. The risks are massive, but the payout would be huge.

 

It would save over $50 billion over the next 25 years in small countries. To solve the polio problem, a massive social movement was crated that uses 20 million people per year to vaccinate over 500 million children each year.

 

This 2-drop vaccine must reach the most remote locations. Rotary International has been right at the center of this fight for over 20 years. Since then, there has been a 99 percent reduction in the number of children paralyzed from polio.

 

These volunteers are also providing other lifesaving medical help because it forces us to reach the most vulnerable people across the world.

 

Five years ago, polio started fighting back, and it could not be eradicated in 4 places and started to respread. They also noticed that the vaccine worked less well in impoverished areas. It is estimated that 200,000 people will be paralyzed from polio by 2030 if it is not eradicated.

 

In non-eradicated countries, they are uses mapping to chart cases by satellite and using GIS to track where volunteers are able to provide vaccines.

 

They also went back to the original 50-year-old vaccine and came out with a new vaccine that better targets polio.

 

Polio in 2021: In 2020, the World Health Organization certified the African region wild polio-free. Wild polio remains in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion to Polio Plus.

 

Response: Steve Morgan

 

 

Of the things we think, say, or do

•Is it the Truth?

•Is it Fair?

•Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?

•Will it be Beneficial to All Concerned?

 

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Spoke Editor: Caitlin White, 307-630-1965, cwhite@acplwy.org