Three years since the last case of polio was reported in India, the crippling disease has been all but eradicated in a country once considered to be at the centre of a global epidemic.

Political will and coordinated international efforts have seen reports of the disease in India go from 741 reported cases in 2009, to 42 cases in 2010, and just one case — the last, as of today — throughout India.

After launching a global effort to eradicate the disease worldwide in 1985, Rotary International has been leading the fight against polio ever since.

Locally, that charge was led by the late Walter Maddocks — a former president of the Hamilton Rotary Club — who, through Rotary International’s PolioPlus campaign, raised $264,000,000 in pursuit of the disease’s eradication.

Reacting to the news, Hamilton Rotary Club president Major Barrett Dill said the Rotary Clubs of Bermuda would be planning a tribute to Mr Maddocks and his “astounding” efforts.

“It is very timely news for Bermuda as the year 2014 marks the 90th Anniversary of Rotary Service in these Islands,” said Major Dill.

“The four Rotary Clubs — Hamilton, St George’s, Sandys and Pembroke — will be marking the occasion with a presentation to Bermuda of a Rotary Clock in front of City Hall in March. The four-faced clock will be used as a tribute to past Hamilton Rotarian president, the late lawyer and Magistrate, Walter Maddocks.”

The World Health Organisation now lists only three countries where the disease remains. At yesterday’s weekly Hamilton Rotary meeting at the Royal Hamilton Amature Dinghy Club, Major Dill congratulated Rotarians for their collective efforts but added that the job is not yet done.

“Rotarians of Bermuda will be hosting a week of events in the second week of March to celebrate the momentous occasion of 90 years of Rotarian service and in particular, to laud the many achievements of past Hamilton Rotarian president Walter Maddocks as Rotarians worldwide strive for ‘The Final Inch’ — the total eradication of polio from the planet.”