Earlier today, Brooke Riley and I went all the way to the Big Apple from our nation’s capital to attend the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s huge polio event, “Polio Eradication and the Power of Vaccines.” Not only did we get to attend the event, we also had the opportunity to speak with some of the panelists about the disease: Dr. Peter Salk, son of polio vaccine founder Dr. Jonas Salk; Mr. James Roosevelt Jr., grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who contracted polio at age 39); and Dr. David Oshinsky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Polio: An American Story.”
Although these amazing individuals offered very unique perspectives to the story of polio, their mission to end the disease is the same. Read on to find out what they had to say:
Mr. James Roosevelt, Jr.
“My grandfather [FDR] was living in this house [the Roosevelt House where the event was located] when he was learning first to crawl again and then to walk again because of polio. And I grew up in the era when we were terrified as children to go to movie theaters in the summer, to go to swimming pools in the summer. And then the work of the March of Dimes that my grandfather founded brought about the discovery of these vaccines that could not just prevent but completely eradicate polio. And we’re now down to four countries in the world [where polio cases still exist], so we still have danger as long as it exists at all.”
Dr. Peter Salk
“[My father Dr. Salk] was very busy and often absent for trips. He would go to work early in the morning and come back late at night. It was a period when we lived outside of Pittsburgh and he would drive me to school in the morning, so we would have that time together in the car. Having the example of what he had done in his life made it feel as though it would be an important thing to continue on that kind of endeavor.”
“To be able to pursue this effort this effort to eradicate this second disease – smallpox being the first, and now polio – that’s going to be a boost to our confidence of being able to do much more.”
Dr. David Oshinksy
“There is no better way to really support the health of children around the world than through worldwide vaccination. Economically, politically, socially, medically, it is by far the best tool that we have. We are so close now to eradicating polio with vaccination. We are using vaccination against measles, mumps and we’re starting to develop the malaria vaccine. And what you really need to know is that…vaccines have proven itself over the years to be extremely safe and remarkably effective.”
There are three reasons why you should watch this event. For one, it talks about the effectiveness of our global immunization efforts in the fight against polio — because of vaccines, we’ve been able to reduce polio by a whopping 99 percent. Secondly, Bill Gates is going to use this moment to release his third annual letter (which you can actually read here right now). And lastly, ONE is launching a gigantic vaccines campaign in just a few short weeks…so take this as an opportunity to get familiar (and pumped!) about the issue.
Remember, Brooke Riley and I are reporting live from New York City. Follow our tweets on @ONECampaign and stay tuned for more blog posts and interviews after the event. If you don’t have time to watch, this nifty animated video on polio narrated by Bill Gates just might do the trick.
This post is republished from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Foundation Notes blog.
On Monday, we held our first TEDxChange salon in Kibera, Nairobi. It was inspiring for me to meet the community there and hear their perspectives on health and development. I’d like to thank them for the exceptional conversation.
We’ll be posting talks from our speakers soon, along with excerpts from the discussion. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few thoughts from the day, and look ahead to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.
I’ve got some really cool news: Next Monday, Brooke Riley (one of our fabulous global health experts) and I (your trusty ONE blogger) will be heading up to New York City for a very special event hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “Polio Eradication and the Power of Vaccines.”
We are seriously this close to beating polio. Thanks to a global childhood immunization effort, polio has been reduced by 99 percent. If we can get that number to 100, it will be the second disease in history to be completely eliminated.
And that’s exactly what panelists and special guests are going to talk about on Monday — the extraordinary progress in the fight to eradicate polio and the enormous life-saving potential of vaccines. The event will also mark Bill Gates’ third annual letter, an update on his work at the foundation and lessons that he learned from the year.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. David Oshinsky, WHO Chair Helen Rees and Sabin Executive Vice President Dr. Ciro de Quadros will be speaking at the event, along with a group of vaccine leaders from Nigeria and Pakistan.
The best part of all? You can be there, too. We invite you to watch the event on the ONE Blog — we’ll be live streaming it in a webcast at 9:30 a.m. ET. Don’t forget that Brooke and I will be covering the event live, so be sure to check our Tweets, Facebook updates and video interviews, too.
Photo courtesy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Last week, Barron’s, a weekly finance and business magazine, published a list of the world’s top 25 philanthropists ranked by impact. Some key findings: Bill and Melinda Gates, who ranked No. 7 last year, is now at No. 1. Ten new members have joined the list, including a celebrity and a marathon runner. And China made its debut onto the roster. Here are the first five on the list. For the full article, go to Barron’s website.
1. Bill and Melinda Gates- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2. Pierre and Pam Omidyar- The Omidyar Network
3. Thomas Siebel- The Meth Project
4. Jeff Skoll- Skoll Foundation
5. Chris and Jamie Cooper-Hohn- The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
It’s nice to get some good news every now and again… to be reminded of why our efforts are having impact on saving and improving real lives.
This week, with the help of Bill and Melinda Gates, we launched Living Proof – and I’d love you to take a look at some films if you get a moment. Let us know what you think, and, if you are so inclined, please share with friends, colleagues, loved ones…
At under two minutes, this video is just a nugget of the proof—poke around the Living Proof website and you’ll find real people making real progress.
If you are feeling adventurous I’d strongly encourage you to watch the full presentation from Bill and Melinda; it’s both evidence-based and heart-warming and an hour well spent. I learned a great deal and it’s certainly better than some of the television shows I’ll be watching this weekend.
Thanks for helping spread the good news—you really are making a big difference in the fight against poverty and injustice
P.S. Ahead of the presentation Bill and Melinda Gates answered questions from ONE members around the world. Keep an eye out for their answers in the coming days
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