World Polio Day 24 October 2019

Thu, Oct 24th 2019 at 12:00 am- Fri, Oct 24th 1919 - 11:55 pm

World Polio Day 24 October 2019


WORLD POLIO DAY: 24 OCTOBER

It’s strange to think that several generations in the United Kingdom and Europe, and throughout the world, have grown up almost totally unaware of the scourge of polio.  Before the arrival of a vaccine in the mid 1950s, very many families had relations or friends struck down by this awful disease, often condemning those afflicted to paralysis, and, in many instances, life in an iron lung. Thankfully, the majority of the world’s population now live free from polio as a result of the efforts to end polio led by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which includes Rotary International, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and governments of the world. But there still remain two countries where the disease has not been totally eliminated.  For polio to be finally eradicated there have to be no outbreaks anywhere in the world for three years.  That is now the challenge.

Wednesday 24th October is World Polio Day. In the forty years since the first immunisation against polio by Rotary International in the Philippines, there has been a reduction of 99.9 per cent in the incidence of polio worldwide. Over this period, Rotary, working with its partners, has helped to immunise almost three billion children in 122 countries. 18 million people are walking today who would otherwise have been paralysed by polio.

To work towards the final eradication of polio, Rotary International has now committed to providing $50 million over the next three years to support the efforts of End Polio Now. To ensure that there is no recurrence in countries now free from polio, it is essential to continue inoculating some three million children annually. 

Each Rotary club has been asked to make a special effort to contribute $50 per member.  As one step towards achieving that challenge, Bridge of Allan and Dunblane Rotary Club is showing the film BREATHE in the Dunblane Cathedral Hall on Tuesday 29th October at 7.15.  The film tells the story of young man (played by Andrew Garfield) struck down by polio. He faces a life confined to a hospital bed. Against all advice, his wife Diana (Claire Foy) brings him home from hospital. With the help of his maverick Oxford Professor friend Teddy Hall (Hugh Bonnevile) they design a revolutionary wheelchair with a respirator attached, allowing Robin to live a full and passionate life.

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