Rotary International, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Global Poverty Project call for the End of Polio

WHAT'S THE ISSUE

Global citizens following The End of Polio campaign since the outset will recall that polio and Australia have a long history together. Just a couple of generations ago wild poliovirus was endemic across Australia. While happily our co-founder’s mum lived to tell the tale, she has difficulty walking today resulting from childhood polio. In fact, the last wild poliovirus case in Australia was reported in 1972. This is a fact that stands testimony to the truth – despite its virulence when no public health measures are taken, polio is a highly preventable disease. Since polio is a waterborne disease spreading wherever there is untreated human faecal matter, a combination of improving public sanitation infrastructure and robust immunization programmes are the world’s best protection against polio. Childhood immunization programs have proven so effective that polio stands on the brink of eradication today. In fact, since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, 2.5 billion children have been immunized, thanks to the cooperation of more than 200 countries, 200 million volunteers and the international investment of $13.5 billion (USD) over the last 26 years.

Back in 1988, polio caused 1,000 children worldwide to be paralysed every single day. Now we are fighting the last 1% of this frightening disease – which tends to outbreak in Northern Africa and the Middle East where there are conflict zones, and countries neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, the only countries where polio remains endemic. Ever since we founded, we’ve recognised the vital work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and actively campaigned with our partners Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation amongst others. Our call is for governments to continue supporting the GPEI until the last 1% polio of polio is eradicated – because polio anywhere is a threat everywhere. So when the new Australian Government announced it would be cutting its aid budget, we knew the commitment by Julia Gillard for the 2013-2018 polio endgame could also be at risk of being axed. With commitments at risk, and conflict undermining routine immunisation efforts, on 5th May this year the World Health Organization declared polio “a public health emergency of international concern”.

HOW DID GLOBAL CITIZENS RESPOND?

Global citizens in Australia have been busy taking action with the support of the End of Polio and Rotary’s End Polio now campaigns. Hundreds of letters were sent to Prime Minister Abbott and his team, and global citizens have been busy raising awareness about the scourge of polio and the potential to eradicate it by 2018. A change of Government in September brought about a change in Australia’s foreign aid budget and policy and we’ve also been out there representing you as global citizens by working at a high level. Back in March, Shobaz Kandola, our recently appointed Australian Country Director, and Michael Sheldrick, our Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager, have discussed the case to support the polio endgame with over 55 MPs and Senators. These include Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and the Chief Government Whip, Philip Ruddock- both of whom were Howard government ministers and mentors of Tony Abbot, as well as the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Brett Mason. Our efforts saw lots of MPs tweet about the certification of India and South East Asia as polio free on both January 13th and 27th March. In particular, we’re grateful to Tanya Plibersek, Deputy Leader of the opposition for sharing our polio infographic which was shared over 2700 times and liked over 6000 times! In addition, while acknowledging the March 27th certification, we called on the Australian Government to continue funding the GPEI until 2018, where Shadow Minister for Women, Claire Moore championed a tri-partisan motion which passed through the Senate. We also spoke to a huge number of Rotarians, who are very active right across Australia, asking them to write to Prime Minister Abbott about polio eradication.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

Victory! We are so excited to share with global citizens this breaking news. Our Global Poverty Project Australia campaign team, Shobaz Kandola and Michael Sheldrick share the exciting news that, on June 1st, Julia Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs, confirmed a commitment of $100 million over the next five years for polio from the Australian government. This is a massive victory for the GPEI and the polio endgame that will prevent many deaths and disabilities for generations to come. Especially in the context of recent developments, which sees Australia fall back from the frontline of international aid donors. The voices of global citizens were heard, which means that the efforts of global citizens and supporters of The End of Polio’s and our partner Rotary International’s efforts over the past 3 ½ years have not been undone – but are even increased by a further year and a further $20 million!

This is massive news and a cause to celebrate the power of a movement taking action for polio. We know that MPs received your emails and Facebook posts - your efforts truly made a difference, well done! According to Senator Mason he received more letters and emails about polio than any other issue or as one senior Government official said to us over the weekend:

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

We’ll continue supporting the GPEI and the polio endgame until the very end, keeping you posted on the latest news and how you can take action. In Australia more broadly, we’ve got our work cut out to stand up for aid. Achieving the end of extreme poverty by 2030 requires the dedicated commitment of all nations – richer nations to maintain and increase their commitments and poorer nations to stand ready to use the resources given to them for their development as efficiently and effectively as possible. We’re only asking for the dedicated commitment of 0.7% of Australia’s gross domestic income and a change in attitude that will stop balancing Australia’s books on the backs of the world’s poorest people. Australians are privileged to live in a free and democratic country with good education, Medicare and other infrastructure like clean water and sanitation that sets our children on course for the best start in life. This is not the case for families living on less than US$1 for their every need. Our Australia Director, Shobaz Kandola, who is busy developing our new comprehensive Australia Global Poverty Project strategy says, “this $100m commitment over five years for polio is a massive victory for the global citizens of Australia. It means that despite the disappointing story of Australia’s cutbacks on aid – there is still hope, and that hope is the power of the global citizen movement in Australia. I’m proud and honoured to be your new Australian Country Director at Global Poverty Project, but mostly I am proud of all the global citizens out there who have proven that together we can make a difference. Let’s work as one to steer the story of poverty in Australia back to a course of justice for the world’s poor. Thank you.”

There is much work to be done. The polio announcement was one of many things we global citizens have been campaigning for. We know that improving healthcare and education can help drive economic prosperity, lifting millions out of poverty. Global citizens have already been taking action to increase funding for the Global Partnership for Education, and this effort will intensify leading up to the pledging conference in mid-June. Later this year we’ll be asking the Australian Government to increase its commitment to GAVI.

Here is a throwback to CHOGM, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Perth in 2011 where $118m in new commitments were made.

Our The End of Polio Concert held on the eve of the CHOGM 2011 meeting in Perth.