ROTARY AROUND THE WORLD:
Rotary Approves $500,000 Emergency Grant for Somalia

Rotary has approved a $500,000 Rapid Response grant to the World Health Organization (WHO) to address a recent polio outbreak in Somalia. The outbreak occurred in the Banadir region of Somalia, where a large number of children had not been vaccinated against polio due to inaccessibility. 

As of August 14, 110 cases of wild poliovirus have been reported in the Horn of Africa—100 cases in Somalia and 10 in Kenya. This is the first outbreak in Somalia since 2007 and in Kenya since 2011.

The Rotary grant will cover operational costs, including human resources, training, and transportation of health workers, aimed at immunizing children under 10 in all accessible areas of Somalia in August. 

To date, five vaccination campaigns have been held in Somalia, three in Kenya, two each in Ethiopia and Yemen, and one in Djibouti.  Additional campaigns are planned through the end of the year.  Drawing on lessons learned from previous polio outbreaks, the first vaccination campaign was carried out within a week after the first case was confirmed.

“Until polio transmission is interrupted in the endemic countries, outbreaks such as the one in Somalia are to be expected,” says Dr. Hamid Jafari, director of Polio Research and Operations at WHO. “So long as the budget for the new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan is fully funded, we’re well-equipped to pursue endemic and outbreak priorities simultaneously.”

Rotary’s emergency funding for responses to polio outbreaks in Somalia and other countries has been critical to ensuring that immunization activities proceed without interruption, thereby minimizing the risk of the disease’s further international spread.