Ending polio is the Rotary cause many people know first, and it has a direct tie to the Philippines. Rotary International's official history says the organization's fight against polio began here in 1979. This page stays with those official statements, dates them to the rotary.org pages checked in November 2026, and then explains how a reader can support the work. It does not claim that the Rotary Club of Cebu East ran a named polio campaign, because recovered club pages do not record one.
How the effort started, including in the Philippines
Rotary's Our History page says: "We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines." The Our Work page and the Ways to Give page repeat that 1979 start, with vaccinations for 6 million children in the Philippines.
Our Work, checked in November 2026, also says Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 45 years, and that the goal of ridding the earth of this disease is within reach.
Where official pages say the work stands
The history page says that today, polio remains endemic in only two countries, down from 125 in 1988. Ways to Give and Our Work name those two countries, as of the November 2026 check: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ways to Give also states that Rotary has wiped out 99 percent of all polio cases, that a child can be protected from polio with as little as 60 cents, and that for every US$1 Rotary commits to polio eradication, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed US$2. Those figures are Rotary's, from that page, as it read in November 2026. This article does not update them from other sources or treat them as numbers this club has independently verified.
The same official pages frame the remaining work as unfinished. "Within reach" and "in sight" are Rotary's phrases, not a claim that the disease is already gone.
How this relates to The Rotary Foundation
The global effort is funded in large part through The Rotary Foundation, including the PolioPlus Fund. Rotary's public giving page is the official starting point for a Foundation gift, at Ways to Give. A wider explanation of Foundation gifts, including other funds besides PolioPlus, is on The Rotary Foundation and how donations work.
Paul Harris Fellow recognition can include gifts to PolioPlus. Rotary says the Fellow recognition is for cumulative giving, or a gift in someone's honor, of US$1,000 or more to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant. That is explained on What is a Paul Harris Fellow?.
What this means, and does not mean, for the Rotary Club of Cebu East
The 1979 immunization project is part of Rotary's official global history in the Philippines. It is not described on this club's recovered pages as a project of the Rotary Club of Cebu East. This club was founded later, on 12 January 1981. This article keeps those facts separate.
What this club has documented on this site is other community work in Cebu, collected in Projects: dental missions, Christmas programs, school support, feeding missions, a water project, and more. Ending polio is one of the causes Rotary lists today, as shown on Rotary's causes and areas of focus, but that list is not the same thing as a recovered Cebu East polio report.
If you want to support the Foundation's polio work, use Rotary's official giving page. If you want to support this club's local projects, use the Support our work page and email our club president at cardwell.marc@gmail.com. If you want to do both, say so in the email, so the gift is directed the way you intend.
Questions people ask
When did Rotary start working to end polio?
Rotary's official history says the fight against polio began in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines.
Has polio been eradicated?
Not yet, according to Rotary's public pages checked in November 2026. Those pages say polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, down from 125 countries in 1988, and that 99 percent of cases have been wiped out. Read the current wording on rotary.org, because official figures can be updated.
How can I support this work from Cebu?
A gift to The Rotary Foundation, including PolioPlus, can be started on Rotary's Ways to Give page. For support of the Rotary Club of Cebu East's local projects, email our club president at cardwell.marc@gmail.com.
Sources
Facts about Rotary International on this page come from rotary.org, checked in November 2026. Facts about the Rotary Club of Cebu East come from pages recovered for this site.
- Our History, Rotary International
- Our Work, Rotary International
- Ways to Give, Rotary International
- About and Support pages of the Rotary Club of Cebu East