23: Voices of Polio Eradication with Dr Jamal Ahmed, Director of Polio Eradication at WHO

As Rotary marked World Polio Day the ‘Unscripted’ podcast brings together remarkable voices united by one mission - to finally rid the world of polio.

Dr Jamal Ahmed is the World Health Organization’s lead on polio eradication, who provides a global overview of where we stand in 2025. Dr Ahmed outlines how surveillance networks and vaccination drives have adapted to modern challenges, including conflict zones and the movement of transient populations across borders.

Adding a deeply human dimension is Emma Miller, a Rotarian from Bradford in West Yorkshire, whose family’s story highlights the devastating impact of polio before the vaccine era. Her uncle, Jeff Hall, was a promising England and Birmingham City footballer who died of polio in 1959, aged just 29.

Completing the line-up is Peter Teehan, who, alongside fellow pilot Ed Galkin, completed the extraordinary ‘Circle the Atlantic’ flight challenge, visiting Rotary clubs across multiple countries, including England, to promote the End Polio Now campaign.

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