• Learn more about Chair of the GPEI Polio Oversight Board, Mike McGovern
• Follow Rotary’s efforts to end polio: @EndPolioNow @Rotary

GPEI Q1. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is a unique public private partnership with six core partners, including Rotary International. What role do partnerships play in the progress we have made against polio?

When Rotary first dreamed of a polio-free world, we knew we couldn’t make that dream a reality on our own. We are a proud founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a coalition which unites the six core partners, health workers, governments, donors, and global leaders behind the vision of a world where children are forever safe from the threat of polio.

Working in collaboration with governments allows for thousands of polio vaccinators, health workers, and community mobilizers to reach up to 400 million children every year in up to 40 countries with over 1 billion doses of polio vaccines. Since 1988, the GPEI has immunized over 3 billion children, reduced polio cases by 99.9%, eradicated two types of wild poliovirus, and 20 million people are walking today who would have otherwise been paralyzed by polio. That is the impact of partnerships in improving public health.

 GPEI Q2. Rotary has a very specific role in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative including fundraising, advocacy and raising awareness. Could you describe some of the activities that Rotary members undertake and explain how they contribute to overall polio eradication efforts?

Rotary members have been, and continue to be, at the very heart of the fight against polio. Each year, they raise US$50 million (tripled to US$150 million thanks to a matching gift from the Gates Foundation) to support polio eradication efforts in endemic and outbreak areas.

There are no limits to the creativity of Rotary members in their support for ending polio.

One of my favorite fundraisers in recent years was the “Flight to End Polio” by Rotarians Peter Teahen, Ed Galkin, and John Ockenfels. In 2023, Teahen and Ockenfels took a literal trip around the world in a single-engine Cessna, visiting 19 countries in 90 days. In 2025, Teahen was joined by Galkin for a similar trip across the Atlantic. Together, both trips raised over US$2 million for polio eradication, and media interest in the story brought greater public awareness to the fight to end polio.

On the advocacy front, many Rotary members host parliamentary events to educate government leaders about polio eradication efforts and to secure political and financial support. And for raising awareness, there are walks, runs, cycling events; people climb mountains and skydive wearing the red End Polio Now t-shirt as a visible sign of support for the effort.

All of these activities keep the momentum going, provide critical funding, and share with the public the importance of polio eradication and the need to finish the job.

GPEI Q3. What message do you have for Rotary members and the general public about what they can do to help us make progress and reach our goal of a polio-free world as soon as possible? 

We are going to get this done. So far this year, there are fewer cases than last year. We are making progress and must keep up the momentum. We made a promise to the children of the world. I encourage every Rotary member and every person who cares about children to help raise funds, donate, raise awareness about the benefits of vaccination, and encourage government support for polio eradication. Together, we end polio.