You don’t have to buy a plane ticket to participate in this year’s World Polio Day festivities at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s facility in downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. You can watch the event live on 24 October at 14:30 Seattle time (UTC-7) for an update on our global campaign to eradicate polio. In case you miss it, a recording of the livestream will also be available later.
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the Gates Foundation’s chief executive, will discuss this year’s progress with attendees, including Rotary members, Gates Foundation staff, and supporters, as well as the audience watching worldwide via livestream. Only 11 new cases of wild poliovirus have been reported so far in 2017, all in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Other speakers will include Jay Wenger, director of the Gates Foundation’s polio eradication efforts; Dean Rohrs, vice president of Rotary International; wrestler John Cena and singer-songwriter Tiwa Savage, Rotary polio ambassadors; Ade Adepitan, a Paralympian and polio survivor; and Jeffrey Kluger, senior editor at Time magazine overseeing science and health reporting.
Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield, stars of the upcoming movie “Breathe,” and director Andy Serkis will also speak. “Breathe” is based on the true story of a polio survivor who became an advocate for others.
Rotary clubs across the globe have registered more than 2,000 events in their communities. Tell us how your club will mark the occasion.
Share the livestream with your social networks using #endpolio
