𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼-𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. In eastern Afghanistan, a groundbreaking needle-free polio vaccination campaign is helping protect more than 1.2 million children while overcoming one of the biggest barriers to immunization: fear of injections. Using innovative jet injectors that deliver the vaccine painlessly without needles, health workers have built greater trust among families, increased acceptance of vaccines, and strengthened efforts to eradicate polio.
This simple but powerful innovation is proving that when technology and community trust come together, we move one step closer to a polio-free world. https://www.rotary.org/.../2026/05/no-needle-no-fear-no-pain
As long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat to children everywhere. Wild polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and variant polio outbreaks threaten the progress we have made against the disease. We must also keep all other countries polio-free until we're certain it won't resurface. If polio is not fully eradicated and the work of the GPEI is halted, we could see a global resurgence of the disease with as many as 200,000 new paralytic cases each year over the next 10 years, all over the world.
Why we still need to fundraise for PolioPlus? In 2024, 1 billion doses of oral polio vaccine was delivered to 270 million children. In 2025, 440 million children were vaccinated against polio, many of them in fragile and conflict affected areas. Rotary International was the second biggest contributor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 2025 with donations of US$150,467,000. This is thanks to the enormous effort of Rotarians across the globe and the 2:1 match from the Gates Foundation.