Eradicating Polio Around the Globe

About this column: We’re dedicating the months of April and May to telling the stories of people locally and statewide who have overcome the impossible, affecting positive change in their own lives or in communities.

George Camp has been fighting the highly infectious disease also called infantile paralysis for two decades. He's chairman of Rotary International's Polio Plus Subcommittee for Westchester, Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx and Bermuda. 

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve taken on?

One of the most dangerous was immunizing children in Pakistan in September. I went to Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. While I was there, the situation in Benghazi happened. We still immunized. The Pakistani Rotarians really took care of us. [Vaccinators were killed in Pakistan in December 2012.]

When we first started there were 350,000 cases of polio a year around the globe. Back in 1987 I was president of Ossining Rotary. Rotary International took on the challenge to immunize the children of the world.

Last year it was down to 243 cases in three countries where polio is endemic: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

But what folks don’t realize is that polio has been re-introduced to this country. I know of two instances: in Michigan and Washington state, in families who traveled with children who weren’t immunized. It’s only a flight away.

What inspired you to take it on?

I saw what we would consider a crude little movie about the children of Malawi. Polio survivors would drag their bodies on the ground to get around. Their greatest threat was being bitten by a mamba. They couldn’t get away.

And all it takes to immunize a child is 70 cents. In the very first National Immunization Day, in Bangladesh, 14 million children were immunized in 24 hours.

What will you do when you succeed?

As a result of this I’ve made a lot of friends in all of these countries and I bring projects back. One is in Namibia. I’m working with a Maryknoll Missioner who has 34 children in after-school programs.

Here’s something people don’t realize—children with mental or physical needs are throw-aways in developing countries. Both parents have to work for the family to survive, so what do they do with a special-needs child? They’ll be locked in a room, they’ll be tied up.

The Ossining Rotary and now the Cortlandt Manor Rotary have adopted this project. The amazing thing is how far a dollar goes. I’m talking to Phelps [Memorial Hospital Center] about equipment. A worn-out wheelchair is like gold to them.

To learn more about Rotary International's partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Centers for Disease Control, click here.

Read about the Briarcliff Manor Rotary's participation here.

About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains.