WE’RE STILL HERE!

PROTECTING THE FUTURE: LESSONS FROM POLIO
The 2025 We're Still Here Campaign

Each October, Post-Polio Health International’s “WE’RE STILL HERE!” campaign gives survivors a platform to share their strength, experience, and hard-earned wisdom with the wider world. This year, under the theme “Protecting the Future: Lessons from Polio,” we invited our community to speak directly to the growing concerns around vaccine hesitancy. As national debates over vaccine requirements intensified, many of you stepped forward—not only by sending us your reflections, but also by writing letters to the editor, submitting op-eds, and engaging with local media to remind the public why vaccines remain essential. Your voices carried moral authority and personal insight that no statistic alone can match.

We’re honored to share a selection of the thoughtful, candid submissions you sent in. These reflections do more than recount the long-term effects of polio, they highlight resilience, purpose, and the determination to use lived experience for the public good. Together, your stories and your advocacy helped counter misinformation and spark meaningful conversations in communities across the country. We thank every survivor who participated in this year’s campaign and hope the voices featured here will continue to inspire action and understanding long after “WE’RE STILL HERE!” week has ended.

Read submissions for the 2025 campaign.