Help Rotary eradicate polio
Even during the pandemic, it's necessary to keep children vaccinated against polio while also protecting health workers from Covid-19 and making sure they don't contribute to its transmission.
Rotary Club of Knights Pendragon appealed to community members to assist in the fight to eradicate polio throughout the world.
For over 40 years, Rotary has fought this disease as members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), with partners such as the Bill Gates Foundation, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
On October 24, the world will celebrate World Polio Day, something special for the African continent.
Bill Brunjes of the Pendragon club said as of August 25 the continent was declared polio-free by the WHO.
“Not detecting any wild poliovirus in Africa is in stark contrast to the situation in 1996 when 75 000 children were paralysed by the disease.”
That year, at a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Cameroon, African heads of state committed to eradicating the disease from the continent.
Since 1996, countless Rotary members from across Africa and around the world have raised funds, immunised children and promoted vaccinations, enabling the GPEI to respond to and stop polio outbreaks.
More than nine billion doses of oral polio vaccine have been provided throughout the region, preventing an estimated 1.8 million cases of paralysis.
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Each year, two million volunteers help vaccinate 220 million children against polio in the African region.
Rotary members have contributed nearly $890-million (R14-billion) toward polio-eradication efforts in the African region.
The funds allowed Rotary to issue PolioPlus grants to fund polio surveillance, transportation, awareness campaigns, and National Immunisation Days.
Rotary members have helped build extensive polio infrastructure that has been used to respond to Covid-19 and, in 2014, the Ebola crisis, as well as to protect communities from yellow fever and bird flu.
To eradicate polio, multiple high-quality immunisation campaigns must continue to be given priority.
Even during the pandemic, it’s necessary to keep children vaccinated against polio while also protecting health workers from Covid-19 and making sure they don’t contribute to its transmission.
Global health officials and experts believe sustained fund-raising and advocacy are crucial, not only to protect gains in Africa but to reach the ultimate goal of a world without polio.
At the end of the 1980s, more than 350 000 children were paralysed by polio every year.
Today, Rotary and its partners have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9 per cent.
Call 082 443 1519 or email billbrn@tiscali.co.za to donate.
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