扶輪與小兒麻痹症 Rotary and Polio  “當扶輪開始談到小兒麻痹症時，人們就聽信了。” －比爾和梅林達•蓋茲基金會副主席威廉•老蓋茲 “When Rotary started talking about polio, people listened.” -William Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

扶輪和梅林達•蓋茲基金會彼此同意的2億美元的基金，在扶輪20年的根除小兒麻痹等疾病留給後世的工作裡留下了另一個里程碑。

The US$200 million funding agreement between Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation marks another milestone in Rotary’s 20-year legacy of polio eradication work.

扶輪，一個120萬位男女的義工服務組織，在1985年承諾讓全世界的孩童免於小兒麻痹症侵襲，並且於三年後成為全球根除小兒麻痹等疾病行動裡一位帶頭的合夥人。其他夥伴是世界衛生組織、美國疾病控制和預防中心和聯合國兒童基金會。

Rotary, a volunteer service organization of 1.2 million men and women, made a commitment to immunize the world’s children against polio in 1985 and became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative three years later. The other partners are the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.

扶輪主要的責任包括了募款、倡導和招募義工。到目前為止，扶輪業已對於根除努力捐贈差不多7億美元拿出到，至世界被證明無小兒麻痹症時金額將增加超過8.5億美元。

Rotary’s primary responsibilities include fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer recruitment. To date, Rotary has contributed nearly $700 million to the eradication effort, an amount that will grow to more than $850 million by the time the world is certified polio-free.

由於在超過200個國家和地理區域，差不多有33,000個扶輪社，扶輪影響全世界的國家政府對於根除小兒麻痹等疾病產生了決定性的金融和技術上的支援。自從1995年以來，扶輪所倡導的努力的成果和它的合夥人協助下從政府捐贈人募集超過30億美元的重要的資金。

With nearly 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas, Rotary reaches out to national governments worldwide to generate crucial financial and technical support for polio eradication. Since 1995, the advocacy efforts of Rotary and its partners have helped raise more than $3 billion in vital funding from donor governments.

於基層在小兒麻痹症所影響社區內的扶輪社也提供了所謂“血汗產權”，哪個幫助確保各層級的領導人保持集中於該根除小兒麻痹等疾病的目標。多年以來，扶輪社社員已經自願獻出他們的時間與個人的資源已達成在122個國家超過二十億孩童口服小兒麻痹症疫苗。

Rotary clubs also provide “sweat equity” on the ground in polio-affected communities, which helps ensure that leaders at all levels remain focused on the eradication goal. Over the years, Rotary club members have volunteered their time and personal resources to reach more than two billion children in 122 countries with the oral polio vaccine.

幸虧扶輪和它的合夥人，小兒麻痹症病例的數量已經被大量削減超過百分之99，因而預防了500萬件童年麻痺癱瘓案例和250,000死亡。當扶輪開始它的根除工作時，每年超過350，000位孩童感染小兒麻痹症。在2007年，在全世界少於2,000個病例被報告。

Thanks to Rotary and its partners, the number of polio cases has been slashed by more than 99 percent, preventing five million instances of childhood paralysis and 250,000 deaths. When Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children annually. In 2007, fewer than 2,000 cases were reported worldwide.

但是小兒麻痹症病例所呈現出，因種種原因包括了地理隔離、工人疲勞、武裝衝突和文化障礙，在預防上最後的百分之一將是因最困難和最昂貴的。

But the polio cases represented by that final 1 percent will be the most difficult and expensive to prevent for a variety of reasons, including geographical isolation, worker fatigue, armed conflict, and cultural barriers.

那是為什麼產生完成工作所需的資金是如此的重要。若現在就鬆懈下來將會引起一場小兒麻痹症的復活，那將會是宣告數百萬個孩童在未來的歲月罹患終身麻痺的不治之症。

That’s why it’s so important to generate the funding needed to finish the job. To ease up now would be to invite a polio resurgence that would condemn millions of children to lifelong paralysis in the years ahead.

底線就是︰只要小兒麻痹症在世界上任何地方威脅，甚至只是一位孩童，全部孩童－無論居於何處－都處於險境之中。

The bottom line is this: As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, all children – wherever they live – remain at risk.