World Polio Day

World polio day is observed on 24 October each year. It is the birthday of Jonas Salk who developed the vaccine against polio.

Poliomyelitis has been known since ancient times. But it was not until 1789 that the English physician, Michael Underwood, first clinically described the disease.

Polio is a fatal illness. The deadly 'polio virus' usually affects children under the age of 5, which is why it is also known as infantile paralysis.

The first efficient attempts to fight the virus were made in 1955 by Salk who led the first team to develop and test the inactivated vaccine. Salk's inactivated vaccine and Sabin's oral vaccine helped save thousands of children. 

In 1988, the World Health Organisation and Rotary International launched the Global Polio Erradication Initiative that reduced cases of polio by 99%.

Today, most countries in the world are polio free. However, due to the small number of countries who have not yet erradicated it, the risk of global infection continues. It is still an incurable disease, therefore prevention is the only weapon to attack the disease. 

We usually hold a bulb planting event to mark this important day. Watch this space for more details on how you can come and help us.