BENIN CITY — The General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation, John Hewko, has disclosed that the global body is targeting 2029 to completely eradicate polio worldwide, even as it intensifies vaccination campaigns and awareness drives across Nigeria and other high-risk countries.
Hewko, who spoke during a press conference in Benin City ahead of the forthcoming Rotary International Conference hosted by District 9141 said Rotary and its partners would remain committed to the anti-polio fight until the disease is eliminated globally.
According to him, despite major successes recorded across the world, polio remains endemic in only two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan largely due to insecurity, misinformation, and cultural resistance to vaccination.
“We’re currently projecting that we hope to eradicate polio in 2029. But until we eradicate it everywhere, children everywhere must continue to be vaccinated because the virus does not recognise borders,” Hewko said.
He revealed that Rotary International and its partners, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have spent over $3 billion since 1985 to combat the disease globally.
Hewko noted that the challenge in countries where polio cases persist is largely tied to insecurity and difficulty accessing children in remote areas.
“You cannot vaccinate a child by Zoom. You have to physically get to the child and administer two drops of the vaccine,” he stated.
He explained that vaccinators now adopt several innovative methods to reach children, including immunising them at border crossings, bus terminals, toll gates, markets, and rural settlements.
Addressing concerns over vaccine hesitancy and misconceptions in some northern Nigerian communities, Rotary leaders said aggressive grassroots sensitisation campaigns had become critical to the success of immunisation efforts.
District 9141 Governor of Rotary and convener of the conference, Anthony Woyingren who also addressed journalists, said many parents reject vaccines due to ignorance and misinformation, stressing that awareness remained the most potent weapon against resistance.
“If you have ever seen a polio victim, you will understand why this fight is personal to many of us. Two drops of vaccine can save a child from lifelong deformity,” he said.
He recalled leading a three-day World Polio Day campaign in Bayelsa State, where Rotary members moved through markets, health centres, and riverine communities educating women and immunising children.
According to him, Rotary also deploys incentives under its “Polio Plus” initiative to encourage compliance, including the distribution of mosquito nets, Vitamin A supplements, and other welfare items alongside vaccines.
Rotary leaders further used the occasion to highlight the organisation’s humanitarian interventions across Nigeria, particularly in youth empowerment, healthcare, water supply, sanitation, and education.
The district governor disclosed that Rotary clubs across Rivers State and other parts of the country had embarked on extensive vocational training programmes aimed at reducing youth unemployment and criminality.
He said youths are being trained in hairdressing, barbing, information technology, and other practical skills to enable them become self-reliant.
“Everybody cannot get white-collar jobs. But when people acquire skills, there is no way they will go hungry,” he said.
The governor also listed several community projects executed by Rotary clubs, including the provision of solar-powered boreholes in Edo and Rivers states, rehabilitation of school sanitation facilities, and construction of classroom blocks with solar-powered learning equipment.
He revealed that Rotary International had also secured a $2 million intervention fund to combat maternal and child mortality in Nigeria.
“We do not want a situation where women die while giving birth. Rotary will continue to intervene in areas that directly affect communities,” he added.
The Rotary officials appealed to the media, governments, and corporate organisations to partner with the organisation in expanding humanitarian interventions and sustaining the anti-polio campaign.
“Rotary is committed to staying in this fight until polio is eradicated completely,” Hewko declared.
