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2014-15 國際扶輪社長 十 月份 文告
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親愛的扶輪社友們：
1914 年10 月，喬納斯•沙克誕生─他是發明第一個能有效預防小兒痲痹的疫苗因而改變了世界歷史的人。這種疫苗在1950 年代在美國引進時，意見調查顯示小兒痲痹是美國兩大最害怕的情事之一，僅次於原子戰爭。這有充分理由：1952 年的美國小兒痲痹疫情，有58,000 個病例通報，3,145 人死亡，21,269 人終生永久殘障痲痹。全球每一年有多達50 萬人染上小兒痲痹症而癱瘓痲痹或死亡。
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沙克疫苗問世之後不久，艾伯特•沙賓開發了口服疫苗，能迅速、安全、及便宜地為數目龐大的兒童接種疫苗。1985 年，扶輪根除小兒痲痹等疾病計畫誕生，有一個簡單的目標：為所有5 歲以下兒童接種疫苗，來對付這種讓人跛足的疾病。由於根除小兒痲痹等疾病計畫的初步成功，1988 年世界衛生大會的166 個會員國一致訂下全球根除小兒痲痹的目標。
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當時，這個想法雄心萬丈令人瞠目結舌，許多人認為不可能。今天，我們比以往更接近這目標，每年只有幾百個小兒痲痹病例通報，而且只剩三個國家還有小兒痲痹疫情。如果我們能繼續保持讓我們達到目前成果的那種衝勁，我們可望按步就班在2018 年達成完全根除小兒痲痹。
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這個月，我們將在10 月24 日慶祝世界小兒痲痹日以及沙克博士生日100週年紀念。
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我懇請你們所有的人都要竭盡所能光耀扶輪，把聚光燈照亮我們為了根除小兒痲痹所做的種種努力。請你們致電政府官員，告訴他們根除小兒痲痹對你們非常重要。請到endpolionow.org 網站取得關於扶輪所做工作的激勵人心故事，並在社交媒體上分享這些故事。
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當我們根除小兒痲痹─我們必將達成─我們將會把世界帶進一個更好的未來，也會把扶輪帶進一個更美好的未來。我們將證明我們自己，作為一個組織，有能力完成偉大的事。而且我們將送給我們的孩子及孫子一件永久的禮物：一個無小兒痲痹的世界。
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2014-15 年度國際扶輪社長
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2014-15 RI President’s Message in Oct. 2014
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DEAR FELLOW ROTARIANS,
In October 1914, Jonas Salk was born – a man who would change world history by inventing the first effective vaccine against polio. When the vaccine was introduced in the United States in the 1950s, polls indicated that polio was one of the nation’s two greatest fears, second only to the fear of atomic war. And with good reason: In the 1952 U.S. polio epidemic, 58,000 cases were reported, with 3,145 deaths and 21,269 instances of permanent, disabling paralysis. Globally, polio paralyzed or killed up to half a million people every year.
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Soon after the Salk vaccine was created, Albert Sabin developed an oral version, allowing tremendous numbers of children to be immunized quickly, safely, and inexpensively. In 1985, Rotary’s PolioPlus program was born, with a simple goal: to immunize every child under age five against this crippling disease. Thanks in large part to the initial success of PolioPlus, in 1988 the 166 member states of the World Health Assembly unanimously set the goal of global polio eradication.
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At the time, the idea was breathtakingly ambitious, and many called it impossible. Today, we are closer to this goal than ever before, with only a few hundred cases of polio reported per year, and just three remaining endemic countries. We are on track to achieve full eradication by 2018 – if we can keep up the momentum that has brought us this far.
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And this month, we will mark World Polio Day on 24 October, and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dr. Salk’s birth.
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I ask you all to Light Up Rotary this month by doing whatever you can to shine a spotlight on our efforts to eradicate polio. Call your government officials and let them know that polio eradication matters to you. Go to endpolionow.org for inspiring stories about Rotary’s work, and share them on social media. And make the best investment you’ll ever make, by donating to polio eradication right on the endpolionow.org website and earning a two-to-one match on your contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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When we eradicate polio – and we will – we’ll have brought the world into a better future, and Rotary into a better future as well. We will have proved ourselves, as an organization, capable of great things. And we will have given our children and grandchildren a gift that will endure forever: a polio-free world.
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Gary C.K. Huang President, Rotary
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International, 2014-15
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