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Geoff Springett John White and Roger Burgess ready for action
Page Last Updated: 28/02/2010
Brief Details: Thanks for Life – Polio Plus campaign Picture left shows Geoff Springett John White and Roger Burgess ready for action
  

POLIO ERADICATION ONE STEP CLOSER

 

On Saturday, 27 February 2010, The Rotary Club of Woodbridge manned a stall in The Thoroughfare to raise funds to help with the eradication of Polio as part of the Thanks for Life – Polio Plus campaign.

This disease has maimed millions of children and caused countless deaths in the world.

 

For the last 25 years Rotary International's main objective has been the eradication of this crippling virus world wide. This effort has been recognised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has recently given Rotary $355 million to buy, amongst other things, polio vaccine to help with the eradication process. The gift came with the challenge that Rotarians should raise an extra $200 million by the end of 2013.  

 

Rotary Clubs throughout the world are responding to the challenge and are concentrating their fund raising efforts in the week commencing 22nd February. We are so near to eradicating this terrible disease worldwide but we must go that final inch because once the virus is eliminated it will never come back….just like the smallpox virus which vanished in 1979.

 

When Rotary started the polio eradication campaign 25 years ago, there were on average 350,000 new cases of paralytic polio each year, in 125 polio endemic countries. By the end of 2009, there were only 4 polio endemic countries left (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria) and only 1,588 new cases recorded. The major responsibility for this 99% reduction in new cases of paralytic polio lies with Rotary International and its three partners, UNICEF, the World Health Organisation and the US Centre for Disease Prevention & Control.