Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.And now we are "this close" to ending polio forever. October 24 is World Polio Day, and Rotary District 5960 created the Strike Out Polio challenge to help end polio.