The fight against polio

Living in the United States, we often hear that we take many things for granted. Our standard of living is higher than that of most the people of the world. Very rarely, if ever, do we have to worry about simple necessities such as water, shelter or food. And, those of us who were born in an industrialized nation after 1960 have probably never feared Polio. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is so lucky.

According to an article posted on cnn.com (see link below), the disease still exists in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. However, there has been an effort since the late 1980's to "eradicate" this disease from the face of the earth. Just recently, this effort received a huge boost in the form of some very generous donations.

The Gates Foundation (started by the Microsoft juggernaut Bill Gates and his wife Melinda) has pledged $225 million to the cause of removing Polio from the world. The funds will be donated to the "Rotary's Global Polio Eradication Initiative," which claims to have, "reduced the number of global polio cases by 99 percent in the past two decades" (CNN Article).

So, should we feel guilty that we are free from the worries of Polio? In my opinion, no. That being said, however, shouldn't we help those who live with the possibility of contracting the disease? I think yes. Apparently Bill feels the same way, which is great, because I don't have billions of dollars...yet...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/22/gates.foundation.polio/index.html