In 1985, Rotary International began the fight to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. Since then, the number of countries that continue to be polio endemic has declined from over 125 to just three, and from 385,000 cases per year to less than 500.

It hasn't been easy. Rotary and its partners will have invested over $1.2 billion in the effort. And that doesn't include the money spent by individual Rotarians in travel and the value of time spent to inoculate children in those nations. But all that money and all the time has brought us within 99% of our goal. We still need to complete the task of eradicating polio in the three remaining nations -- Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.