{"id":8879,"date":"2026-04-22T14:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/?p=8879"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:26:09","slug":"march-2026-poliostop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/march-2026-poliostop\/","title":{"rendered":"March 2026 PolioStop"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

In <\/span>1985<\/span>, <\/span>three <\/span>years <\/span>before <\/span>the <\/span>world <\/span>had <\/span>a <\/span>formal <\/span>plan<\/span>; <\/span>Rotary <\/span>moved <\/span>first<\/span>. <\/span>PolioPlus <\/span>launched <\/span>as the <\/span>first <\/span>large- <\/span>scale <\/span>privately <\/span>coordinated <\/span>effort <\/span>to <\/span>combat <\/span>polio <\/span>globally<\/span>, <\/span>raising <\/span>US<\/span>$<\/span>247 <\/span>million <\/span>in <\/span>its <\/span>opening <\/span>three <\/span>years<\/span>. <\/span>Nigeria <\/span>was <\/span>among <\/span>the <\/span>countries <\/span>where <\/span>that <\/span>early <\/span>investment <\/span>mattered <\/span>most<\/span>: <\/span>in <\/span>1988<\/span>, <\/span>polio <\/span>was <\/span>paralysing <\/span>an <\/span>estimated <\/span>350,000 <\/span>children <\/span>every <\/span>year <\/span>across 125 <\/span>countries<\/span>, <\/span>and <\/span>Nigeria bore <\/span>one <\/span>of <\/span>the <\/span>heaviest <\/span>burdens <\/span>on <\/span>the <\/span>African <\/span>continent<\/span>. <\/span>It was <\/span>Rotary’s early <\/span>commitment <\/span>and <\/span>proven <\/span>track <\/span>record <\/span>that <\/span>helped <\/span>bring <\/span>WHO<\/span>, <\/span>UNICEF<\/span>,and the\u00a0 <\/span>US <\/span>CDC <\/span>to <\/span>the <\/span>table<\/span>, <\/span>culminating <\/span>in <\/span>the <\/span>launch <\/span>of <\/span>the <\/span>Global <\/span>Polio <\/span>Eradication <\/span>Initiative<\/span>. <\/span>That <\/span>spirit <\/span>of <\/span>moving <\/span>first<\/span>, <\/span>of <\/span>exceeding <\/span>expectations <\/span>before <\/span>the <\/span>world <\/span>was <\/span>watching<\/span>, <\/span>has <\/span>defined <\/span>the <\/span>programme <\/span>and <\/span>Nigeria’s <\/span>role <\/span>within <\/span>it <\/span>ever <\/span>since<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The decades that followed rewrote history. Wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 2015; type 3 in 2019. And then, in August 2020, came the moment Nigeria had worked towards for a generation: the entire WHO Africa Region 47 countries, Nigeria among them was certified free of wild poliovirus. It was a triumph built on the backs of Nigerian health workers, community mobilisers, field coordinators, Readmore<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1985, three years before the world had a formal plan; Rotary moved first. PolioPlus launched as the first large- scale privately coordinated effort to combat polio globally, raising US$247 million in its opening three years. Nigeria was among the countries where that early investment mattered most: in 1988, polio was paralysing an estimated 350,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8881,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8879\/revisions\/8881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polioplus.org.ng\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}