What
do Bill Gates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, actress Archie Panjabi, actor Jackie
Chan, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, and South Korean popstar Psy have in common?
They all are ambassadors
helping educate the public about polio through public service announcements,
social media, and public appearances.
50 years ago, Ann Arbor
was the epicenter of the medical research to eradicate Polio worldwide as
Thomas Francis, Jr., (the University of Michigan Director of the Polio Vaccine
Evaluation Center) announced to the world that the Salk vaccine proved to be up
to 90% effective in preventing paralytic polio. His announcement was made at
Rackham Auditorium, after a two-year national field trials of the poliomyelitis
vaccine developed by his former student, Jonas Salk.
Today, there are only
two countries that have never stopped the transmission of the wild poliovirus--
Afganistan and Pakistan. Less than 370 polio cases were confirmed worldwide in
2014, which is the reduction of more than 99% since the 1980s, when the world
saw about 1,000 cases per day.
The Rotary Foundation,
together with its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, has led
the efforts to eradicate polio, contributing more than $1.3 billion and
countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122
countries.
Following the screening, University of Michigan health care professionals will take part in a panel discussion.