Published: July 13, 2009 08:35 am      

An end to polio

District Gov. speaks to Corbin on polio efforts

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Rotary District Governor Dennis McEvoy said he always believed in the concept of Rotary — but it wasn’t until he attended the governor’s convention in January that he really understood its power to save lives.

During a meeting of the Corbin Rotary Club on Thursday, McEvoy shared the organization’s successes and future goals for the eradication of polio disease.

Since 1985, Rotary Club International has raised more than $600 million in the fight to eradicate polio. Their efforts have been largely successful — today the debilitating and paralyzing disease is only found in four countries — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria.

In 2007, Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would pledge $100 million to the fight against polio if Rotary could match it. The organization took on the challenge, and only a year and a half into their three-year pledge, Rotary had already raised $80 million of the $100 million goal.

“There were 5,000-6,000 (polio) cases at the time (2007),” McEvoy said. “...As of the end of last year, there’s still a few cases in all four of those countries, but the actual number had dropped to eight hundred-and-something cases... Well, for some reason it got a spike in about a three month period — it went from 800 to 1,400-1,500.”

McEvoy said politics has played a part in the disease’s small resurgence.

“Military problems that wouldn’t allow these people to be administered to. you can’t reach all these people, they are very transient for safety purposes,” he said.

So in January, Gates came before Rotary leaders again, this time pledging $250 million for polio eradication efforts if the club could in turn raise another $100 million.

“People were actually crying,” McEvoy said. “I had a governor from India next to me, and he was crying, because he actually sees what’s going on... we’re blessed, we don’t see any of that, but those countries do.”

Rotary’s new goal is to raise an additional $120 million by June 30, 2012 with the goal to completely and finally eradicate the disease.

And with the goal so clearly in sight, McEvoy sees even greater things in Rotary’s future.

“What ring will Rotary throw their hat into after this is over? I have no idea. I’m not privy to any of that but I’m thinking at the back of my head, you’ve got cancer, you’ve got heart (disease), how wonderful would that be?” he asked.

McEvoy, of Florence, Ky., is a 25-year member of Rotary Club, and is one of two district governors in Kentucky, representing 42 clubs.

At the end of his speech, Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney presented McEvoy with a certificate naming him a Corbin Colonel. Rotary members also presented him with a Corbin blanket.

Before the presentation, club members showed McEvoy a short film created by Rotary Scholar recipient and Corbin High School student Colton Hanson about the attributes of the city of Corbin.