Here’s the Beaver Rotarian, “GIVING POLIO THE FINGER,” with his purple pinky finger. (When a polio vaccine is administered, the fingernail of the pinky finger is painted purple.)
In 1985, when Rotary committed to eradicating the disease, polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children per year, in 125 countries — more than 1,000 per day. Today we are down to two countries and fewer than a total of 50 cases so far in 2015.
