Love Is The World's Oldest Medicine

Celebrating The Work Done To Eradicate Polio

When I moved to Tallahassee, Florida, in the fall of 1990, one of my first jobs was to work at the Florida Department of Health in the Maternal Health Division. My assignment was to work with the late Dr. Carol Graham , a brilliant and eloquent woman who became a dear friend, on a new project called Healthy Start. It was my first association with the sphere of public health, and I was moved by the passion of the people with whom I worked. From the epidemiologists to the community educators to the program designers, everyone was devoted to the health and well-being of the population they served.  

I saw more of the same devotion when I was privileged to serve on an Elder Affairs Initiative for Dementia Care and Cure. I happened to know, from the time he was but a toddler in a church I served, one of the persons responsible for collecting and managing data for the program, and you would think he was the Department of Elder Affairs Secretary for all the energy and compassion Evan Barksdale put into his job.  

Most recently, I attended the graduation ceremony for my beloved friend, Carol Graham’s daughter, Erin Sley, who earned her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina. With the same passion and brilliance as her beloved mother, Erin is a strong advocate for public health. The Surgeon General of the United States at the time, Dr. Vivek Murthy, was the commencement speaker for Erin’s graduation in May 2024 at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. 

Murthy’s words to us that day were masterfully rich as he reminded the students and those of us celebrating with them: 

“Love is the world’s oldest medicine. It is what I wish for you all more than anything else in the world. Your ability to give and receive love – that is your greatest gift and your greatest power.” 

His last prescription to us as Surgeon General, when his term ended in January of 2025, was “to come together and commit to each other, to choose community and be community builders in our own neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, family, and friend circles.” Public health is all about community.  

It is something that I believe many of us take for granted. We think of health as personal rather than communal, but it is certainly both. And no one knows that better than Rotarians, especially during this week when, on October 24, World Polio Day was observed around the globe. Though the observance day was established in 2012 by Rotarians on the birthdate of Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed a polio vaccine that was declared safe and effective in 1955, Rotary International began its fight against polio with a multi-year project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines in 1979. 

To date, Rotarians have collected more than $2.6 billion dollars and given countless volunteer hours to the effort to eradicate polio. Along with five other prominent partners, they immunize over 400 million children annually against the highly contagious virus that impacts mostly children under the age of five with paralysis and or death.

As the first organization to envision a polio-free world through mass immunization of children, Rotary believes the decision to vaccinate is a humanitarian imperative.

Visit EndPolio.org

Rotarians understand that health is broader than any individual, and the health of the community impacts us all. So did Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, who contracted polio as an adult at age 39. His determination and discipline to fight the disease’s progression was remarkable, and while he did find ways to live better with the disease, he was not able to reverse the paralysis that he developed because of the incurable disease. As seems consistent with his leadership of our nation, he was faithful to tending to those with the greatest need and fewest resources, including the children who had contracted polio. He made it a priority throughout his political career to assist those who were suffering from polio by raising awareness and funds for treatment and research.  

In 2024 the global report on polio showed two countries where polio is still endemic, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, places where Rotary International is targeting its efforts. In April 21-18, 2025, ten Rotary members from France and Belgium participated in a large-scale polio immunization campaign in Pakistan. Marie-Laurence Lejeune, a member of the Rotary Club of Hazebrouck Merville, whose father suffered from polio while living in Africa, explains that these vaccinations “represent more than a humanitarian project, it's a project for humanity.” 

According to a recent article in the Journal of Pediatrics, immunization programs are considered one of the most important public health achievements in the world. Together with clean water and improved access to health care, immunizations have contributed in a definitive and relevant way to the increase in life expectancy in most countries, including the United States where life expectancy increased from 1900 to 1999 by thirty years.  

I think of Vevek’s last prescription to us all as Surgeon General. He encouraged us to “choose community and be community builders.” One of the ways we do that is by seeing that our own health and wellbeing is related to the health and wellbeing of others. We are an intricate web and finding a way to care not only about our rights, but the rights of others, is critical to the health and wellbeing of us all. 

I am also reminded of a dear man in my home church, Alvin Watson. His wife was our minister of Education and he, a prominent businessman. I remember learning that Mr. Watson had contracted polio as a child. Like FDR he was determined to live his life to its fullest despite the challenges, maneuvering his crutches as if they were a part of him, in the halls, down the steps, and on the grounds of our church.  Joy was his most prominent asset. I can still see the twinkle in his eye and hear his laughter. Mr. Watson helped normalize his disability and encourage sensitivity in our church family to care about others as we witnessed his courage and strength. It is my prayer that we all will find ways to see the intricate connection we have with each other in the choices that we make.  

World Polio Day 2025 

October 23, 2025 

Rev. Candace McKibben