Today is World Polio Day, but for most of us, it’s just another date on the calendar, easily overlooked. Why? Because polio isn’t lurking in our neighborhoods. We don’t feel its shadow over our children, and we’ve seen the footage of iron lungs only in black-and-white documentaries. We think of polio as a ghost of the past, something tragic but far removed from our lives. But that ghost is real, and right now, it haunts children in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s an invisible thief, creeping into innocent lives to steal their futures, to steal their dreams. But we can stop it. In fact, we’re the only ones who can.
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Polio isn’t just a virus—it’s a predator. It targets the most vulnerable, robbing children of their ability to run, to play, to simply live without fear. It leaves families broken, watching helplessly as a child takes their last unassisted step, forever dependent, forever bound by this thief. Imagine if it were your child, or your niece, or your neighbor’s child. Imagine them confined to a wheelchair or a respirator. Imagine having to explain why a life-saving vaccine didn’t reach them in time.
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We’re so close. We’ve pushed polio to the brink of extinction, reducing cases by 99%. That’s 2.5 billion children protected, 2.5 billion lives free from the specter of paralysis. Yet here we are, with just 1% left, and somehow, that final 1% feels like the hardest. We’ve reached the final stretch of a marathon that started decades ago, but we’re not sprinting to the finish. And the stakes? They’re as high as they’ve ever been.
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As Rotary International reminds us, “We are this close.” But “almost” isn’t good enough. Not in this fight. Because as long as there’s one child left unprotected, we risk it all. This isn’t just about a handful of kids in far-off countries. Polio doesn’t recognize borders. If we don’t complete this mission, it can return to every country where it once was—a terrible reminder of what we almost finished.
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Health workers—some of the bravest, most dedicated people you’ll ever know—are on the front lines every single day. They walk miles, often through hostile environments, to deliver a vaccine that could save a child’s life. They do it because they understand what’s at stake. They do it because they believe in a future where no child has to fear this crippling disease. These workers are holding the line for us, for all of humanity. But they need our help. They need us to stand with them, to amplify their voices, to make sure that every child, everywhere, receives these life-saving drops.
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And yes, we have the power to do this. We can make polio a ghost of the past, once and for all. Because polio is preventable. Imagine that—a simple vaccine, a few drops, that could mean the difference between a life of endless potential and a life of unimaginable restriction.
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Yet millions of children remain at risk. For them, polio isn’t a memory; it’s a nightmare. A nightmare we have the power to end. Are we really going to let this last 1% slip through our fingers? Are we really going to let complacency undo everything we’ve achieved?
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The choice is ours. We can be the generation that eradicated polio, or the one that let it creep back into the world because it no longer felt urgent to us. History will remember our decision. What side of that story do you want to be on?
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So today, on World Polio Day, let’s not just remember polio. Let’s act. Donate. Advocate. Educate yourself and those around you. Because standing by isn’t neutrality—it’s negligence. And the cost of negligence is a life—perhaps the life of a child you’ll never meet, but whose future depends on us right now.
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We’re this close. Let’s be the ones who cross the finish line, who make polio truly history, so that generations to come will only know of it as something we conquered together. Because almost is never enough when lives are at stake.
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