News Release
U-M School of Public Health and Rotary Club of Ann Arbor partner to light U-M Iconic Rackham Building for World Polio Day
Oct. 19, 2016Contact: Terri Weinstein Mellow, 734-764-8094, twm@umich.edu
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
U-M School of Public Health and Rotary Club of Ann Arbor partner to light U-M Iconic Rackham Building for World Polio Day
DATE: 6:45 p.m. ceremony to light Rackham Auditorium, which will stay illuminated 7-10:00 p.m., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016
PLACE: Rackham Building
EVENT: The School of Public Health in partnership with Rotary Club of Ann Arbor will light up the iconic Rackham Building on the U-M campus with the statement "End Polio Now" during World Polio Day October 24.
Lighting of the building brings awareness to the campaign to end polio, which is a
vaccine preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.
The Rackham building was selected because of its historical significance. On April
12, 1955, in Rackham Auditorium, Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., director of the Poliomyelitis
Vaccine Evaluation Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health announced
to the world that the Salk polio vaccine was "safe, effective and potent." Today,
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only remaining polio-endemic countries, with a total
of 51 cases reported between them this year as of October 14.
Rotary International is lighting iconic structures all over the world to raise awareness and recognize the global progress that has been made to eradicate polio. Previous projections include the Coliseum in Rome, the House of Parliament in London, the Sydney Opera House, and the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
