International polio-containment group meets in White Rock
Published 12:00 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026
The roadmap to a world permanently free of polio took a significant step forward this week in White Rock.
White Rock’s Ocean Promenade Hotel was the setting for a series of sessions as the Global Certification Commission Containment Working Group (GCC-CWG) concluded its quarterly face-to-face meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat.
Winston Conyers, White Rock Rotary Club member and the PolioPlus campaign chair of White Rock Rotary, updated Peace Arch News about the meeting.
“The meeting served as a critical platform for the GCC-CWG and the WHO Secretariat to align on the Sustaining a Polio-free World strategy,” he said.
“It’s a long-term initiative designed to ensure that once polio is eradicated, it stays eradicated, through the rigorous containment of polioviruses in laboratories and manufacturing facilities worldwide,” he noted.
During the visit, GCC-CWG members joined White Rock Rotary’s weekly meeting, an opportunity to witness first-hand the the kind of grassroots advocacy and fundraising that have fuelled the global movement since 1985.
Rotary International is a a foundational partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), while GCC-CWG Chair Arlene King is a Semiahmoo Peninsula resident.
The meetings provided updates on the current status of the global program, Conyers said, adding that club members were “so excited” to welcome such a distinguished and high-profile international group to the area.
“There was a WHO representative who came from Geneva, another member of the group came from the Netherlands, and two were attending from Atlanta, Georgia,” he noted.
Meetings during this week emphasized that securing poliovirus materials is the final, essential hurdle in safeguarding decades of international investment.
“Achieving safe and secure containment is an integral part of our long-term success,” said King, following the White Rock Rotary meeting.
“The dedication shown by the volunteers in White Rock is an inspiring example of how local leadership drives global health outcomes.”
The WHO Secretariat, in turn, extended sincere gratitude both to the visiting delegation for their technical work and to Rotary volunteers worldwide.
Meanwhile White Rock Rotary continues to champion innovative fundraising for the cause through the “Miss Vicky Challenge” led by Dr. Lee Harman and Conyers.
The initiative features Miss Vicky – a refurbished 1931 Model A Ford – which has travelled thousands of miles across several continents to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the PolioPlus campaign.
“Miss Vicky’s endurance on the road mirrors Rotary’s own persistence in the final miles of the eradication journey,” Conyers said.