Rotarians fight for a polio free world

Rotarians fight for a polio free world

Thursday the 24th of October 2013 is an important day in the history of a disease that has crippled millions, but its complete elimination is now in sight.

The 24th of October is the birth date of Joseph Salk, the leader of the team that developed the first successful polio vaccine in 1955. It is also the date adopted by Rotary International to acknowledge this amazing breakthrough.

In New Zealand Rotarians across the country will be raising funds by all manner and means that will include approaching schools to participate in contributing $ coins through a ‘Purple Pinky Day’ or ‘Purple Clothes Day’, selling insulated coffee cups and shaking buckets in street appeals.

Polio, an incurable disease attacks the nervous system and can kill, but usually leaves its victims with various degrees of paralysis for the rest of their life. Disfigured legs of persons depicted on archaeological sites indicate that polio has probably been around for centuries.

It was ended in New Zealand through immunising children at primary school, initially by injections and later by the children swallowing a vaccine solution.

In 1985 when there were over half a million cases of polio each year, Rotary made a promise to the children of the world to eradicate polio by supporting mass immunisation programmes.

Rotary’s partners now include UNESCO and the World Health Organisation, and more recently the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, so that now there has been just 285 new cases reported this year (to 8th October).

“We are so close to ending polio as a disease,” says Ken Linkhorn, Rotary’s End Polio Now Zone Coordinator for New Zealand and part of Australia. “Our goal is to see our promise fulfilled and see a polio free world.”

“Even in countries that have been polio free for many years such as New Zealand, it is hugely important to continue with immunisation of young children. Success cannot be certain until the whole world has been polio free for two years.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the last polio ‘endemic’ countries, but Somalia, which had been polio free since 2007, incurred an unfortunate ‘bump’ in recent polio cases reported, when it experienced an outbreak of 174 cases in this year to date.”

Mr Linkhorn says this shows the importance of getting to the ‘carriers’ who can unknowingly take the disease from one country to another. With millions of immunisation doses still to be administered the anticipated cost to complete eradication is estimated at US$5 billion, most of which has already been pledged by the major private and public organisations involved.

New Zealand Rotarians together with their compatriots from around the world have raised US$1.260 billion to eradicate polio over the last thirty years and teams of volunteers have regularly visited countries like India to dispense polio vaccine.

On 24th October Rotary clubs up and down New Zealand will be raising money from their members and their communities to help achieve the goal of a polio free world within five years.

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