A photo of a young boy, legs twisted, disabled by an infectious disease appeared on the screen.

“Polio leaves 200,000 children paralyzed each year. Is that an acceptable number? Is any number acceptable?” David Morgan asked the Rotary Club of Decatur on Monday.

Aiming for eradication

As part of Rotary Foundation Month, Morgan challenged club members to eradicate the disease.

Mark Maloney introduced Morgan, a Rotary Foundation trustee from Wales.

“Polio eradication is our No. 1 priority,” said Morgan. “Polio is a very nasty virus. It disfigures. It paralyzes. And it kills.”

For Rotary, ending polio costs $200 million. To date, the international organization’s 1.2 million members have raised $99 million.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation triggered the campaign to raise $200 million by 2012 by offering $355 million in challengeable grants.

But the difficulty of the challenge is increasing. The economic crisis resulted in a decrease in fundraising, Morgan warned.

Famous supporters

Since June, many high-profile figures, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, World Health Organization Director Dr. Margaret Chan, President Barack Obama and Bill Gates, voiced support for the eradication campaign.

Only 1,700 cases in four polio-endemic countries stand between Rotary and the goal the organization established in 1985 of immunizing all people against polio.

In 1988, when Rotary joined the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, more than 350,000 polio cases spread throughout 125 countries.

Of the four countries containing the disease — India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Af­ghanistan — Nigeria represents the most difficult challenge.

Morgan said new polio cases stemming from Nigeria appeared last year in bordering countries that were previously polio-free.

In Pakistan and Afghan­istan, members of the eradication initiative performed vaccinations at refugee camps.

Worth the cost

“Polio is still with us,” Morgan said. “We have the tools; what we want now are the funds. There’s a real chance of the disease being eliminated.”

Club President Murphy Brown echoed Morgan’s challenge.

“We have been an active participant in the eradication of polio,” he said. “Just remember, it only costs 60 cents to get one shot for the polio vaccine.”

Polio facts

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus and spread by person-to-person contact. More than 50 percent of polio cases affect children under 3 years old. About 90 percent of infections cause no symptoms. One in 200 cases results in permanent paralysis.

Timeline

1840, polio first recognized by Jakob Heine.

1952, vaccine developed by Jonas Salk.

1952, polio peaked in the United States with more than 21,000 cases reported.

1988, Global Polio Eradication Initiative forms. More than 350,000 cases existed in 125 countries.

1994, polio eradicated in the United States.

2009, approximately 1,700 cases are known of in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

Famous survivors

Alan Alda, Mia Farrow, Francis Ford Coppola, Dinah Shore, Neil Young and Jack Nicklaus.

CATHERINE GODBEY