The second area of Focus for Rotary is Disease prevention and treatment. Rotary believes good health care for everyone is an important focus and goal. Yet 400 million people in the world, according to the WHO, don’t have access to basic health care.
Disease results in misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people worldwide. That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to us. We at Rotary lead efforts both large and small. We set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in underserved communities struggling with outbreaks and health care access. We design and build infrastructure that allows doctors, patients, and governments to work together. Prevention is important, which is why we also focus on health education and bringing people routine hearing, vision, and dental care.
The use of cell phones and texting is one example of how Rotary makes a difference in our global fight to end Polio. In 2018, Pakistan replaced paper-based reporting with fast, accurate cellphone messaging. This is something we take for granted in our country, but for Pakistan, it was a big deal.
Health workers can use the phones to send data via text message to a central server. If they see a potential polio case, they can immediately alert officials at Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center. They also can note any children who didn’t receive the vaccine or parental refusals – and record successful immunizations. In Pakistan, the polio eradication effort aims to reach the nation’s 35 million children under age five.
Rotary has been working to replace traditional paper-based reporting of maternal and child health information, including polio immunization data, with mobile phone and e-monitoring technology.
Thanks to Rotary, community health workers across Pakistan have received more than 5000 phones since 2018. Mobile technologies are the type of innovations that can fill in the gaps and finally help us end polio for good. Their uses have never been more important than now. So, think about that next time you pick up your cell phone!
And that's the Rotary Minute.
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