My experience was much the same. We saw the pictures of the rows of iron lungs in Life (?) magazine in 1952-53 and got immunizations (both vaccine and oral) as soon as they became available. Classmates with braces were maybe 1 per 200 students, as best as I remember, and we didn't know all the details about deaths. I have friends today who are still dealing with braces and/or disfigurement; most consider themselves fortunate and I privately regard them with a high degree of respect.
Rotary International, as CCCC mentioned, decided in 1985 to eliminate Polio with a world-wide project, Polio Plus . The goal was to get every vulnerable person vaccinated by 2000. The CDC and the World Health Organization endorsed that plan. The vaccine could be mass-produced for as little as 3 cents per dose and Rotarians raised the money to buy the vaccine and volunteered to go to the very corners of the earth to vaccinate.
"Since 1985 Rotary and its partners have helped reduce the number of cases from 350,000 annually to fewer than 400 in 2014, and they remain committed until the disease is eradicated. Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2 billion children worldwide. In addition, Rotary's advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $10 billion to the effort." <
https://www.rotary.org/en/historic-moments-polioplus-turns-30>
Today there are only three countries in the world with new cases of Polio (Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan); the biggest obstacles to complete eradication appear IMHO to be cultural and political resistance.
I have a very expensive bumper sticker on my old Tahoe "Goodbye, Polio. Thanks, Rotary". Rotarian since 1977, happily retired now.
