Actress Archie Panjabi and Rotary to Eradicate Polio

British-born actress Archie Panjabi, best known to TV viewers as the sultry, enigmatic investigator Kalinda Sharma on the CBS series, “The Good Wife,” has teamed up with the humanitarian organization Rotary International to protect children everywhere by eradicating the paralyzing disease polio.

And her involvement extends beyond simply lending her name and celebrity to a cause – she has witnessed the devastation caused by polio.

“I grew up in London and at the age of 10, I moved to Mumbai for 2 years,” said Panjabi. “One of the things that struck me on my daily walk to school was seeing polio survivors crawling on the streets using just their hands.”

There is no cure for polio, but the disease is vaccine-preventable. In March, the Emmy Award-winner took to the streets of New Delhi, India, with a team of Rotary volunteers to immunize children with the oral polio vaccine and visit with young polio patients at a local hospital.

Panjabi’s involvement in the fight against polio began in 2011, when she signed on as a celebrity ambassador in Rotary’s award-winning “This Close” public awareness campaign, “We Are This Close to Ending Polio.”

Other participants include Gates, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, actress Amanda Peet, actor Jackie Chan, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and golf legend Jack Nicklaus.

More than 19,000 people from 144 countries have joined the digital application of the PSA, called the “World’s Biggest Commercial.” Rotary International made this announcement today, May 23.