He added that the first shipment of 500,000 doses of  anti-polio vaccine to the Philippines at the beginning of 1980 was made possible by Sergio Mulitsch di Palmenberg and this “project later gave rise to the NGO “Nuovi Spazi al Servire”, co-ordinated by Luciano Ravaglia”
Rotarian Abboud said since the beginning of the project in 1985, “Rotarians have contributed over US$850 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer-hours, leading to the inoculation of more than two billion of the world’s children.”
He noted that inspired by Rotary’s commitment, the WHO passed a resolution in 1988 to eradicate polio by 2000. Now a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) with WHO, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rotary is recognized by the United Nations as the key private partner in the eradication effort.
In 2008, he explained, challenged by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “rotary received a $100 million challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Rotary committed to raising $100 million.
In January 2009, Bill Gates announced a second challenge grant of $255 million. Rotary again committed to raising another $100 million. In total, Rotary will raise $200 million by 30 June 2012. Together, the Gates Foundation and Rotary have committed $555 million toward the eradication of polio. At the time of the second challenge grant”
Because of this the Rotarian cited what Bill Gates said about the club: “we know that it’s a formidable challenge to eradicate a disease that has killed and crippled children since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians. We don’t know exactly when the last child will be affected. But we do have the vaccines to wipe it out. Countries do have the will to deploy all the tools at their disposal. If we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio.”
He explained about some of the challenges the campaign is faced with is that there has “some limited criticism concerning the program for polio eradication. There are some reservations regarding the adaptation capabilities of the virus in some of the oral vaccines, which have been reported to cause infection in populations with low vaccination coverage. However, in spite of the limited risk of polio vaccination, it would neither be prudent nor practicable to cease the vaccination program until there is strong evidence that “all wild poliovirus transmission stopped,” he said.