Battle to beat polio
19 October 2007
 |
| St Albans Rotary making a difference |
CAN a pound put in a collecting bucket in St Albans really make a difference to the world?
Rotary Clubs in St Albans know it can. If just one of the pounds collected by every Rotarian in the world were focused on one objective such as the complete eradication of Polio, the difference would be enormous.
Twenty years ago Rotary began planning for the most ambitious programme in its history - to immunize all of the world's children against polio.
Before eradication efforts began, polio paralysed more than 1,000 children a day - that's about 350,000 annually. The incidence of polio has since declined by more than 99 per cent.
Rotary International is the spearheading member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and is the largest private-sector donor through its dedicated charity Polio Plus.
A Polio-free world is possible. A little more than 50 years ago, an oral "live" vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin. In 1955 there were 6,000 cases reported in the UK alone but the western world is now largely free of the disease but not the virus. The virus is happy to be an international traveller.
Total eradication by vaccination is the only sure way to fight Polio. This year it was announced that Polio has been driven out of Egypt and Niger which brings the number of polio endemic countries down to four - an all time low. They are India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Rotarians know that a vaccine is worth nothing unless it is in a child.
n Diary date: Saturday November 3, Abbey Fireworks. Rotarians on the Gate.
Share or bookmark this with...
All original material on this page, unless specified by another URL, is the property of Archant and may not be reproduced without permission. Click here to find out more...