Distinguished Guests,

Mr. Nahu-Senaye Araya, Chairman Rotary International National Polio plus Committee, Polio plus Program and Rotary International participants
Dr. Peter Salama, Representative, UNICEF Ethiopia
Colleagues from WHO and UNICEF 

It is our great pleasure to host this important ceremony this morning. I warmly welcome you all to WHO.

The prospects of polio eradication are more positive than ever, particularly following the unprecedented level of priority and commitment by Governments and partners, much of it stemming from the World Health Assembly’s declaration of polio eradication as an emergency for global public health in May 2012. Polio is more tightly confined than ever before – there were 350,000 cases in 1988 in 125 endemic countries; there have been just 202 cases so far in 2012 affecting just 94 districts in four countries.

Despite this progress, Ethiopia is in a very fragile position. Continued circulation of wild polio virus in 2 countries in the African Region (Nigeria and Chad), risks of continued circulation in the Horn of Africa, as well as the level of current routine immunization coverage, pose a potential for outbreaks in Ethiopia. The need for sustained vigilance in our efforts can therefore not be emphasized enough.

Rotary International’s engagement since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988 has been instrumental in the significant progress achieved over the past two decades. In Ethiopia, Rotary has been at the center of polio eradication advocacy efforts, local resource mobilization and focused attention to high risk border areas. Through the collaborative support from Rotary, cross border activities have been successfully supported in 2012 with neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa.

With the financial commitment Rotary International pledges today to WHO, totaling ETB 1,879,031, activities to boost population immunity, surveillance and community mobilization in high risk border areas such as Somali, Gambella, Benshangul Gumz, Oromia and SNNPR will be supported in 2013.

WHO commends the strong commitment of Rotary International to achieving and maintaining polio-free status in Ethiopia and the world as a whole. WHO values the strong partnership and looks forward to the continued collaboration in the last push of polio.

Together, we can keep polio out of Ethiopia!

Thank you.