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The Rotary Foundation Trustee chair, Kalyan Banerjee, left, speaking with David Halpin, president of Douglas Rotary Club and Jack Cahill, president of Cork Rotary Club, during his recent vist to Cork.
Picture: David Keane.

For more details see attached press release.

Press Release: Kalyan Banerjee – The Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair – visit to Cork
Strictly embargoed: Monday 19th June 2017 – 2.00pm

-Rotary Leader Calls for Irish Rotarians to Help End Polio-

Rotary’s biggest ever celebration is underway – a year-long, global commemoration of The Rotary Foundation’s 100 years of Doing Good in the World.

And today that celebration came to Cork City, with the arrival of Kalyan Banerjee - The Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair and 101st Foundation President – who has made the visit from the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India.

Making an address at City Hall, as part of a three-leg trip which will see him visit Dublin and Belfast, Banerjee thanked Irish Rotarians for their help in eradicating Polio world-wide and made a call for one final push to help end the disease.

The first recorded case of Polio in Ireland was in 1941 and by 1956 an epidemic had broken out across the country, including County Cork which had 90 notified city cases. By 1985, there were more than 350,000 cases of Polio globally. Today, to-date in 2017, there have been just six reported cases of the disease world-wide. Primarily thanks to the work of Rotary, we are on the cusp of ending the paralyzing, life-altering scourge which will be the second human disease, after smallpox ever to be eliminated.

In 1985 the Rotary Foundation launched its PolioPlus program - the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Since then, Rotary has contributed more than €1.46billion and countless volunteer hours to immunise more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than €6.4 billion to the effort which has lead to a 99.9 percent decrease in cases since PolioPlus launched.

Addressing the Lord Mayor Cllr. Tony Fitzgerald and representatives from Rotary Great Britain and Ireland at a lunch event in the city, Banerjee went on to congratulate Irish Rotarians for the fundamental humanitarian work they had been doing since 1911 when Rotary was first launched in Dublin. Ireland was the second country outside the United States to launch a Rotary club, closely followed by Belfast in 1912. He encouraged as many people as possible to get involved in the century-old organization to enjoy fellowship, meeting new people to interact and gain from these interactions.

During his speech, Banarjay announced Rotary’s commitment to raise $50 million (€44,740,728) per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. This expanded agreement will translate into $450 million (€402,234,646.50) for polio eradication activities, including immunisation and surveillance over the next three years. This critical funding helps ensure countries around the world remain polio-free and that polio is ended in the remaining three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Banerjee concluded his address by making a call for Irish Rotarians to help with the final push in efforts to help the eradication of Polio.

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteers dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. The Foundation connects 1.2 million members of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. There are 53,000 Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland in 1,850 clubs tackling a host of humanitarian issues includling hunger, poverty, illiteracy and peace.

For information on how to join Rotary Ireland, visit www.rotary.ie.
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Notes to editors
The first Rotary club was founded in 1905 when four friends met in Chicago to discuss how they could work together to help the wider community. Rotary has since grown internationally to more than 1.2 million members across 200 countries.
“Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves”
—PAUL HARRIS
Rotary started when Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney, had an idea of forming a club where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the early practice of rotating meetings between the offices of each member.
In 1914 the organisation moved across the Atlantic and the British Association of Rotary Clubs was established. The association was renamed Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland in 1924.
Today Rotary continues to respond to the needs of an ever changing world, whilst retaining its strong founding principles.
About Polio
Polio is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. The poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age but mainly affects children under five. Polio is incurable, but completely vaccine-preventable.
Kalyan Banerjee
Kalyan Banerjee belongs to the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India.
Trustee Chair 2016-2017
Rotary Club of Vapi.
Rotary International President 2011-12.
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation, 2001-05.
Director, Rotary International, 1995-97.
Trustee member, The Rotary Foundation 2013-17
He has been marshaling his energies for Rotary since 1972, when he joined the fledgling club in his hometown of Vapi, India. Around the same time, the young chemical engineer was starting up a small company to produce red phosphorous, an essential ingredient in fertilizer. Under Banerjee’s leadership, United Phosphorous Limited blossomed into the largest agrochemical manufacturer in India. And Vapi, due in no small part to the work of the local Rotary club, has been transformed from a sleepy village into a major industrial center in Gujarat State.
Over the last four decades, Banerjee has served Rotary as a district governor, president’s representative, committee and task force chair, Rotary Foundation trustee, and director. He also has been a member of the International PolioPlus Committee, heading up initiatives that have spurred Rotary’s polio eradication efforts in India.
Now, almost to his own amazement, Banerjee is the organization’s 101st president and the third from India.
About Polio in Ireland (source: http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-1956-polio-epidemic-in-cork/)
Ireland
Poliomyelitis only became a notifiable disease in Ireland in 1941. The first epidemic occurred in 1942 and continued into the following year. In all, 487 cases and 133 deaths were notified to the Department of Health, a fatality rate of 27.3%. The incidence of the disease fluctuated during the following years, with epidemic waves in 1947, 1950 and 1953. The following table shows the number of cases and deaths that were notified to the Department of Health for the 26 counties for the years 1950 to 1955 inclusive.
Year Notified cases Deaths
1950 200 30
1951 63 15
1952 96 13
1953 245 33
1954 82 14
1955 119 3
Source: Report of the Department of Health, 1956–57 (Stationery Office, 1957), p. 43.
Cork city and county escaped the 1942–3 outbreak completely, but the area was not so fortunate in the summer and early autumn of 1956. The first case was notified to the city medical authorities on 13 June. Two further cases were reported on 19 June, one on 2 July and another two on the following day, in the wake of which Dr J.C. Saunders, the city Medical Officer of Health (MOH), concluded that ‘an epidemic was imminent’. There was a steady increase in the number of cases from the second week of July onwards. By 9 August 90 cases had occurred in the city and 34 in County Cork, with one death, that of a five-year-old girl at St Finbarr’s Hospital on 15 July. Of the 90 notified city cases, 71 were under six years of age, eight were between six and ten years old, five were aged between ten and twenty, and the remaining six were older than twenty. The majority of cases occurred in the south side of the city, with Ballinlough, Friars Walk, Ballyphehane and Wilton particularly affected.


For further press information please contact Angela Hunter on 079 7029 4406 or email angela@birdsongni.co.uk