Taking home gold: Rotary International awarded Oswaldo Cruz Medal of Merit

Olympians and Paralympians weren’t the only ones to win medals this summer. In July, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Rotary International as one of the recipients of the 2024 Oswaldo Cruz Medal of Merit, in the gold category. Rotary was recognized for the work of Rotary clubs across Brazil for efforts to eradicate polio and increase awareness of the importance of vaccinations. 

Marcelo Haick, a member of the International PolioPlus Committee, national advocacy adviser, and past Rotary Foundation trustee, who is from Brazil, accepted the award from President Lula and Nísia Trindade Lima, the country’s health minister, at a ceremony on 11 September. On 1 October, Haick presented the medal and certificate to Trustee Chair Mark Daniel Maloney and International PolioPlus Committee Chair Michael McGovern during the committee meeting at Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA. 

“It was an honor to receive this recognition on Rotary’s behalf,” Haick says. “Though we continue to face challenges, both old and new, Rotary’s commitment to protecting every child in Brazil — and all children globally — against polio and other infectious diseases is unwavering.” 

Established in 1970 and named after Oswaldo Cruz, a renowned Brazilian physician and bacteriologist, the Cruz medal is awarded to individuals and organizations who have contributed, directly or indirectly, to the physical and mental well-being of the Brazilian community. The 2024 honorees were 23 individuals and 10 institutions selected for their work to combat the drop in vaccination coverage in the country.

Brazilian members of Rotary have a long history of supporting public health initiatives. In 1930, Brazil’s director of public health recognized the Rio de Janeiro club for its work in combating yellow fever. In the 1980s, members in Brazil raised nearly US$4 million for Rotary’s PolioPlus campaign.

After dangerously low vaccination rates were reported in 2018, Rotary clubs in Brazil supported a two-month vaccination campaign that immunized more than 11 million children against polio and measles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs organized the Information Saves Lives campaign to combat growing anti-vaccine sentiment in Brazil. Then, in 2023, they launched the Together Against Polio campaign to promote polio vaccination.

Rotary is a leader in the global effort to eradicate polio and was a founder of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. Since then, Rotary and its partners have reduced polio cases by 99.9% and immunized more than 3 billion children.