Bill Gates announces new US$255 million grant for ending polio

By Arnold R. Grahl and Dan Nixon

國際扶輪新聞2009 年1 月21 日

Rotary International News -- 21 January 2009

3520地區2007-2008年度文化大使獎學生蘇晉育Kyle (Su,Chin-Yu)譯

比爾和梅林達•蓋茲基金會因為國際扶輪在全球根除小兒麻痺上的努力，捐出了二億五千五百萬美金，將扶輪及蓋茲基金會的承諾總額推升至五億五千五百萬美金。。

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded US$255 million to Rotary International in the global effort to eradicate polio, bringing the total committed by Rotary and the Gates Foundation to $555 million.

與來自四個地方仍流行的小兒麻痺病毒的國家-阿富汗、印度、奈及利亞及巴基斯坦的下屆地區總監會談後不久，比爾蓋茲於星期三在美國加州聖地牙哥舉辦的國際扶輪講習會中宣佈新的捐款。Shortly after meeting with incoming district governors from the four countries where the wild poliovirus is endemic -- Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- Bill Gates announced the new grant on Wednesday morning at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA.

「扶輪社員、政府領導人及保健專家都做了驚人的承諾，讓我們了解小兒麻痺正折磨著少數全球的孩童，」蓋茲說，「然而，完全根除小兒麻痺病毒是困難的，且未來幾年都會很困難。扶輪特別激起我自己的個人承諾，要深深的介入，以達到終止小兒麻痺。」不過，要完全消滅小兒麻痺病毒很難，再將來的數年將也會是十分困難。

 “Rotarians, government leaders, and health professionals have made a phenomenal commitment to get us to a point at which polio afflicts only a small number of the world’s children,” Gates said. “However, complete elimination of the poliovirus is difficult and will continue to be difficult for a number of years. Rotary in particular has inspired my own personal commitment to get deeply involved in achieving eradication.”

「我們現在將就要終結小兒麻痺，」國際扶輪的國際根除小兒痲痺委員會主委羅伯特•司考特申明。

"We are going to end polio now," affirmed Robert S. Scott, chair of RI's International PolioPlus Committee.

扶輪將募集對等一億美金來回應新的二億五千五百萬美金的蓋茲基金會捐款。在2007 年11 月，國際扶輪收到了一億美金的蓋茲基金會捐款，扶輪承諾將相對募集一億美金的對等捐款。

In response to the new $255 million Gates Foundation grant, Rotary will raise $100 million in matching funds. In November 2007, RI received a $100 million Gates Foundation grant, which Rotary committed to match by raising $100 million.

兩筆蓋茲基金會挑戰獎助金目前總計為三億五千五百萬美金。而被稱為扶輪的二億美金挑戰的國際扶輪對等回應則必須2012 年6 月30 日前完成。

The two Gates Foundation challenge grants now total $355 million. Rotary International’s matching effort in response is called Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge, which must be completed by 30 June 2012.

二億五千五百萬美金獎助金是蓋茲基金會所捐出過最大筆挑戰獎助金的金額之一，也是扶輪104 年來所收到最大筆的捐款。扶輪將利用該筆獎助金直接支持全球根除小兒麻痺運動所執行的免疫行動，該運動是由國際扶輪及其合作夥伴擔任先鋒－世界衛生組織、美國疾病控制及預防中心、聯合國兒童基金會。扶輪將該基金藉由獎助金分配給世界衛生組織及聯合國兒童基金會。

The $255 million grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest received by Rotary in its 104-year history. Rotary will spend the grant in direct support of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is spearheaded by RI and its partners , the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF. Rotary will distribute the funds through grants to WHO and UNICEF.

達成扶輪的二億美金挑戰，對於扶輪社的及每位扶輪社員仍是艱難的。扶輪募集了將近七千三百萬美金：包括六仟二百萬美金的捐獻及一千一百萬的承諾金。每個扶輪社再接下來的三年，都被要求每年組織一個公開的資金籌集活動。十月，國際扶輪基金保管委員會通過了特殊的保羅哈理斯之友獎章，從七月一日起，頒發現在就終止小兒麻痺圖案的證書。

The participation of Rotary clubs and individual Rotarians in Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge remains crucial to its success. Rotary has raised nearly $73 million toward this amount: $62 million in contributions and $11 million in commitments. Each club is being challenged to organize a public fundraiser annually for the next three years. In October, The Rotary Foundation Trustees approved special Paul Harris Fellow Recognition, which begins 1 July, featuring a certificate with the End Polio Now logo.

從1985 年起，根除小兒麻痺一直是扶輪的首要重點，超過了12 億美金捐獻於此。蓋茲讚揚扶輪提供了義工、 倡導者及捐獻人，他們幫助了99%小兒麻痺案例的下降。「如果沒有扶輪，世界將不會在這裡，沒有扶輪，它也到不了它需要去的地方。」他說。

Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985, with more than $1.2 billion contributed to the effort. Gates praised Rotary for providing the volunteers, advocates, and donors who have helped bring about a 99 percent decline in the number of polio cases. “The world would not be where it is without Rotary, and it won’t get where it needs to go without Rotary,” he said.

國際扶輪社長當選人約翰•肯尼說：最終的門檻就在前面。他說這份獎助金顯示了蓋茲基金會就和扶輪有著同樣的承諾要去擺脫這個疾病的世界。

The final hurdle still is ahead, said RI President-elect John Kenny. This grant shows that the Gates Foundation is just as committed as Rotary to ridding the world of this disease, he said.

蓋茲也與下屆總監及扶輪領導人分享一個他11 月赴印度旅遊的故事，當時他在東德里的貧民窟，抱著一個9 個月大的女嬰，感染了小兒麻痺。

Gates also shared with the incoming district governors and Rotary leaders a story from his trip to India in November, when he held a nine-month-old girl afflicted with polio in his arms in a slum in East Delhi.

「她顯然不知道為何人們撥弄著她的腿並看來如此嚴肅。但是她永遠也不能到處踢球、不能玩跟她的朋友玩捉迷藏，因為她罹患了小兒麻痺。」蓋茲說。「當我抱著Hashmin 時，我想，我們可以終止這些。」

“She obviously didn’t understand why people were poking her legs and looking so serious. But she’ll never be able to kick a ball around, never be able to play hide-and-seek with her friends, because she has polio,” Gates said. “As I held Hashmin, I thought, We can end this.”

「我們不知道最後一個孩子被感染的確實時間。但是我們有疫苗可以將它摧毀。」他說。「各國擁有任其部署所有工具的意志力，如果我們全都能堅忍的看到這個努力的成果到最後一刻，我們就能根除小兒麻痺。」

“We don’t know exactly when the last child will be affected. But we do have the vaccines to wipe it out,” he said. “Countries do have the will to deploy all the tools at their disposal. If we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio.”

除此之外，英國及德國政府宣佈他們分別提撥一億五千萬及一億三千萬以根除小兒麻痺，這不包含在扶輪的挑戰中。

In addition, the governments of the United Kingdom and Germany announced they have respectively committed $150 million and $130 million to eradicate polio, which will not count toward Rotary’s challenge.

政府的支持是努力根除小兒麻痺的關鍵，Scott 說。

Government support is key to polio eradication efforts, said Scott.