WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, was recognized by Rotary International as a 2014 Polio Eradication Champion for his efforts in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Rotary is a leading partner in the GPEI, a collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that is committed to eliminating polio across the globe.

“I was honored to be recognized by Rotary for my efforts to eradicate this terrible disease,” Sen. Moran said. “As Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the CDC, I was able to work with my colleagues to provide $146 million toward the efforts to eradicate polio, an increase of $40.5 million from the previous year. This support saves lives and reduces health care costs. As a fellow Rotarian, I commend the organization and its members for their leadership in eradicating polio across the globe and share this commitment to ridding the world of this disease.”

Rotary has contributed more than $1.2 billion to date to fight polio. Through 2018, every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year. Polio once afflicted thousands of Americans during epidemics into the 1950s. Polio cases have been reduced by 99 percent worldwide, but the disease has not been eradicated in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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