A Partnership Made in Heaven

Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have renewed a
fundraising partnership they hope will inject millions of new dollars into
the final push to eradicate polio, a goal both say is closer than ever.

Only 69 cases of polio were reported globally so far this year as of June
19, and an independent board monitoring the global eradication effort
recently said halting transmission of the disease by the end of 2014 is "a
realistic prospect." The number of cases has declined substantially from
1,352 reported in 2010, and the virus is endemic in pockets of only three
countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

But the war on the final vestiges of polio is tough. Polio vaccinators have
been shot and killed in recent months in Nigeria and Pakistan. An
eradication goal was missed last year. And the virus appears to be resurging
in the Horn of Africa, with more than one-third of the cases so far this
year in Somalia and Kenya-two countries that had been largely polio-free.

Under the agreement, the Gates Foundation said it will match two to one
every new dollar that Rotary commits to polio eradication up to $35 million
a year over five years. That could total $525 million, including $175
million from the Rotary Foundation and $350 million from the Gates
Foundation for polio immunization programs, the organizations said.

The fundraising is part of a six-year drive to raise $5.5 billion for a
"polio eradication and endgame strategic plan" led by Rotary International,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Unicef and the World Health
Organization to wipe out the virus by 2018. Governments, nongovernmental
organizations and individual philanthropists such as New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg have pledged $4 billion of that amount. The Gates
Foundation has committed $1.8 billion of that amount, which it says will
include its matching funds for Rotary.

Rotary launched its first fundraising campaign for polio in 1985, prodding a
World Health Organization resolution to eradicate the disease. It has
contributed $1.2 billion since then toward eradication, raised through
donations from Rotarians as well as their communities, and thousands of
Rotary volunteers have helped immunize children in multiple countries.

Over the past year, volunteers have vaccinated people in mobile clinics and
at toll plazas in Pakistan, met with religious leaders, and implemented
lessons learned from India, which successfully stopped transmission of polio
with programs like health camps that offer nutrition training and other
health services along with polio vaccine.

"Rotarians are spending not only money out of their pockets and raising
money in the community, but they've also spent a considerable amount of
their own money and time to go to these countries and help with the
vaccination efforts," said John Germ, vice chairman of fund development for
the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee.

The amount Rotary is seeking to raise is less than approximately $228
million it raised during a recent five-year campaign, in which the Gates
Foundation also matched funds. Part of the reason is concern about "donor
fatigue," Mr. Germ said. But mainly, he said, Rotary's goal now is to
persuade major donors such as governments and corporations to give more for
the final eradication push. "We need to reach out and get money from those
who have not given," he said.

And, he said, Rotary is likely to raise more than the $35 million a year.
"Rotary's got a history of exceeding its goals," he said.

"We both want to maintain the momentum," said Gates Foundation CEO Jeff
Raikes, adding that the new endgame strategy has plans and resources for
quelling outbreaks like the one in the Horn of Africa. "We're very excited
about what can be done here."

Story from the Wall Street Journal