Polio: what it is, and why we’re so close to ending it

What is polio?

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious virus that mainly affects children under five. It spreads person to person, often through contaminated water, and can attack the nervous system, causing paralysis within hours. There is no cure, but polio can be prevented with a safe, effective vaccine.

Why the purple finger?

During mass vaccination campaigns, health workers mark a child’s little finger with purple ink after they receive the oral polio vaccine. It shows at a glance which children have been protected. When you “give polio the pinkie finger”, you’re standing with those children and the volunteers who reach them.

How the vaccine works

The oral polio vaccine is just two drops in a child’s mouth. Repeated campaigns build immunity across whole communities until the virus has nowhere left to spread.

Rotary’s role

Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985 and helped found the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, alongside the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, joined later. Rotary members raise funds, advocate with governments and volunteer in vaccination campaigns.

Why the last cases are the hardest

Wild polio now survives in only a few places, often where conflict, remote terrain and mistrust make it hard to reach every child. Eradication means zero cases everywhere, because as long as polio exists anywhere, children everywhere, including here in Canada, are at risk.

Share a fact

Tap any fact to turn it into a branded graphic you can share. Post one a day in the run-up to World Polio Day on 24 October!

Polio IQ: 3 quick questions

How you can help

Give: donate to Posts for Polio. It only takes a moment.
Share: make your purple-finger graphic and share a fact card.
Join: connect with a local Rotary club and its World Polio Day events.

Sources: endpolio.org, polioeradication.org, WHO.