鳴鳳社第57期

The Rotarian On Polio

劉梅夕 Macy 

      In the October edition of The Rotarian, the topic of Polio was focused on and discussed many times. With World Polio Day being held on October 24th, The Rotarian revisited the history of the virus, and Rotary's involvement in the near eradication of polio. Since 1985, Rotary has reduced polio cases by 99.9%, and has helped more than 120 countries become polio-free. By helping immunize more than 2.5 billion children, Rotary has prevented more than 18 million cases of this debilitating disease. Although Rotary is closer than ever to their goal of eradicating polio, there is still more important work to be done so that polio can become the second human disease to be eradicated in the world. As Mark Daniel Maloney, President of Rotary International wrote,"This is no time to get discouraged or to think that the task is impossible. We will end polio forever, but only if we remain steadfast and vigilant. World Polio day is a time for Rotarians from all over the globe to come together, recognize the progress we have made in our fight against polio, and plan the action we must take to end polio forever." He concluded with an urge for continued support of the project; "Rotary must continue to connect the world in the effort toward polio eradication. It is up to us. Let us finish the job."

      As an outbound RYE in the USA and a part of my school's Rotary Interact Club, I have participated in the polio project a few times. Most recently, I helped raise money with the Rotary Purple Pinky Project at a tri-district conference in my city. For that reason, I am familiar with the history of Polio and Rotary's old mission; as I'm sure much of you are. However, a few articles in the October edition of The Rotarian had a different take on Polio that I found interesting. Instead of focusing on the past accomplishments made by Rotary, articles such as Our New Strategy To End Polio focused on the long term goals and mission of PolioPlus for the future. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI) previous plan was created for the years 2013-2018. Since 2015, type 2 polio has been eradicated, and type 3 has not been seen since 2012. Afghanistan and Pakistan have become the only two countries where poliovirus has been detected since 2016. With an end in sight, Rotary must create a new strategic plan that considers the aftermath of eradication. From 2019-2023, the new Polio Endgame Strategy will focus on three main goals. Eradication, second, integration and collaboration, and lastly, certification and containment. With these goals in mind, Rotary hopes to achieve and sustain eradication, strengthen immunization systems, and continue their work on a global scale to end the fight against polio for good. Unfortunately, the GPEI's new five-year budget will cost about $4.2 billion dollars. To close the $3.27 billion dollar gap, Foundation Trustee Chair Gary C.K. Huang from Taipei, Taiwan, calls for help on a global scale. "When we say 'Service Above Self,' we take a stand for this virtue. We know that outlet like-minded brothers and sisters around the world will join us. We have been drawn together by outlet need to do good in the world. We can rid the world of a disease forever. And you will be the ones to do it, through your continued commitment and generosity."

To help support the final eradication of Polio,
you can make your donation at endpolio.org/donate.

扶輪社對小兒麻痺症的貢獻

李淑娟 PE E. T. Sharon 中譯稿修訂 

       在 10 月份出版的《扶輪人》中，多次聚焦討論小兒麻痺症的話題。隨著 10 月 24 日的世界小兒麻痺日 的舉辦，《扶輪人》回顧了該病毒的歷史，以及扶輪社的投入，即將滅絕全球的小兒麻痺症。自 1985 年以 來，扶輪社已將小兒麻痺症病例減少了 99.9%，並幫助 120 多個國家消除了小兒麻痺症。藉由幫助 25 億個 以上兒童接種疫苗，扶輪社已經防治了超過 1800 萬例這種使人衰弱的疾病。儘管扶輪社比以往更接近根除

小兒麻痺症的目標，但仍有許多重要工作要做，才能讓小兒麻痺症成為世界上第二種被消滅的人類疾病。 正如國際扶輪社社長馬克•丹尼爾•馬洛尼(Mark Daniel Maloney)寫道:「現在沒有時間灰心或認為這項 任務是不可能的。我們將永遠終結小兒麻痺症，但前提是我們必須持續堅定和警惕。世界小兒麻痺日是全 球扶輪人凝聚在一起的時刻，認識到我們在對抗小兒麻痺症方面已有的進展，並要計劃永遠根除小兒麻痺 症而必須採取的行動。」他以敦促持續支持此項計畫作為結語:「扶輪社必須繼續連結世界，致力根除小 兒麻痺症。這事情就看我們了，讓我們來完成工作吧!」

身為美國 RYE 的交換學生以及我學校的扶輪交流社團(Rotary Interact Club)的一份子，我已經參加了小兒 麻痺症活動好幾次。最近，我在我城市的一個三地區聯合會議上，協助扶輪社紫色小指計畫(Rotary Purple Pinky Project)募款。因此，我熟悉小兒麻痺症的歷史以及扶輪社以往的任務;而我確信你們很多人也是。 不過在十月份的《扶輪人》中有幾篇文章對小兒麻痺症有不同的論述，我覺得很有趣。它們不是專注於扶 輪社過去的成就，諸如《終結小兒麻痺症的新戰略》等文章，主要是討論對小兒麻痺症的長期目標和未來 的使命。全球根除小兒麻痺症行動(GPEI, The Global Polio Eradication Initiative)先前的計劃是針對 2013‐2018 年制定的。自 2015 年以來，已根除二型小兒麻痺症，而且 2012 年之後，有三型小兒麻痺症未再 出現。自 2016 年以來，阿富汗和巴基斯坦是僅有的兩個尚存小兒麻痺症病毒的國家。有鑑於此，扶輪社必 須考量根除的後續狀況制定新的戰略計劃。從 2019 年至 2023 年，新的《小兒麻痺症終局策略》將專注於 三項主要目標:根除，其次是合作與整合，最後是認證與遏止復發。考量這些目標，扶輪社希望實現並永續 根除，加強接種免疫系統，同時也持續全球的工作，以終結對抗小兒麻痺症的奮鬥。不幸的是，GPEI 的新 五年預算需要耗資約 42 億美元，為了彌補 32.7 億美元的差額，基金託管會主席，來自台灣台北的 Gary C.K. Huang 呼籲全球協助。「當我們說超我服務的時候，我們堅守這種美德。我們知道，世界各地志同道合的 兄弟姐妹將加入我們的行列。我們因需求在世界上做好事的管道而團結在一起。我們可以永遠根除這個疾 病。透過您持續的承諾和慷慨解囊，您就是會做到這件事的人。」

支持終結小兒麻痺症，您可以到 endpolio.org/donate 捐款。