One virus, once rampant across 125 countries, now lurks in only a few corners of the globe. In Barrie, the shadow of polio is confronted not with fear, but with resolve and a red flag.
Rotary members from three Barrie clubs converged on city hall on October 24 to observe World Polio Day, inviting the public to witness the End Polio Now flag rising above their city’s seat of power. The ceremony wasn’t just symbolic—it was a declaration that the fight against polio remains urgent, even as the disease slips from daily headlines. Rotary’s decades-long campaign against the virus stands as a testament to perseverance, community action, and global partnership.
“For nearly four decades, Rotary has been at the forefront of the fight to end polio,” explained Roger Denize, president of the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia, addressing Barrie’s collective clubs. His words underscored a reality: Polio anywhere still threatens children everywhere. Barrie’s Rotary clubs have become veterans in advocacy, fundraising, and vaccine awareness, supporting the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since its inception.
When Rotary launched its PolioPlus program in 1985, polio paralysed an estimated 350,000 children every year. Partnerships with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and later the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, transformed that landscape. Now, wild poliovirus remains endemic in only a handful of regions, with cases down by more than 99.9 percent. Yet, as Rotary’s pledge to raise up to $50 million a year—matched two-to-one by the Gates Foundation—reminds the world, the final stretch demands unyielding vigilance.
Barrie’s flag may flutter quietly above city hall, but it signals something larger: a community’s refusal to let up until no child faces polio’s shadow. As the global health movement continues, Barrie’s Rotary clubs and their neighbours remain determined to see the fight through to its end.
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Barrie joins global movement to end polio with city hall ceremony
