Rotary honors Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker as a Champion in the worldwide effort to eradicate polio
Echternach, Luxembourg (20 June 2009) – Rotary International will recognize His Excellency, Mr. Jean Claude Juncker, Prime Minster of Luxembourg, with the Polio Eradication Champion Award for his leadership and his country’s dedication in the support of a polio-free world.
The award, which was presented on behalf of Rotary International by Rotary Foundation Trustee Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, was established in 1995 and is the highest award Rotary awards to honor heads of state, health agency leaders and others who have made significant contributions toward polio eradication.
“On behalf of 1.2 million members worldwide including some 600 members of Rotary clubs in Luxembourg, I am honored to recognize the unwavering commitment of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, for its outstanding support of a polio-free world,” said Stenhammar.
Luxembourg has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to polio eradication. Luxembourg’s leadership in making multi-year commitments in support of global polio eradication and bolstering that support with additional contributions has been an example of leadership.
The financial support of polio eradication efforts by donor governments, foundations and private citizens has been staggering-- an international investment of over 5 billion US dollars (€ 4 billion) through 2008. Luxembourg’s investment of over US$10.5 (€ 8.1 million) has been critical to the progress achieved.
“If there is one lesson to be learned from the progress made toward conquering polio, it is that we can accomplish more working together, than individually,” said Stenhammar. “The support of the Government of Luxembourg, a country with less than one half million people-- but with the highest per capita contribution to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative-- also highlights the fact that small does not mean insignificant.”
Also present at the ceremony was H.R.H. Grand Duke Henri, whom Rotary International has previously recognized for his dedication to global polio eradication. Rotary International recognized Grand Duke Henri as a Polio Eradication Champion in 2002. The Grand Duke was acknowledged for his support of a polio free world on the occasion of Rotary International’s Centennary in 2005, when Luxembourg Rotarians presented a framed certificate of appreciation from the President of Rotary International and Chairman of The Rotary Foundation to him. Most recently, Rotary International presented the Grand Duke with a framed bas relief of an image of a man administering polio drops to a child. The image is a replica of a famous statue created by renowned sculptor Glenna Goodacre that stands in front of Rotary International Headquarters.
A highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and sometimes death, polio still strikes children in parts of Africa and South Asia. As there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little as 60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life. To date, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 children annually in the mid-1980s to less than 2,000 reported cases all last year.
Other leaders who have been honored with Rotary’s Polio Eradication Champion Award include Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, President Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia, former Prime Minister John Howard of Australia; former Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand; former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain; Alpha Oumar Konare, former chair of the African Union Commission; former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India; President Yar’Adua of Nigeria; former President Bill Clinton of the United States; former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; President Mamadou Tandja of Niger; former President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland and first lady Suzanne Mubarak of Egypt.
Rotary made polio eradication its top philanthropic goal in 1985. As the lead private sector contributor and volunteer arm of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative -- a public/private partnership spearheaded by World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF -- Rotary has contributed more than US$ 800 million to ending polio.
To date, more than two billion children have been immunized against the paralyzing and sometimes deadly poliovirus. Tremendous progress has been made in the last two decades, as polio cases have declined by 99 percent. Yet, challenges remain in the four polio-endemic countries: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.
Rotary International is the world’s first and one of the largest volunteer service organizations with 1.2 million members in more than 200 countries and regions.
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