Africa Declared Polio Free

IN A GROUNDBREAKING announcement, Africa has been declared Polio free. The momentous news comes as it is announced that Nigeria has seen no new poliomyelitis cases for four years.


District Governor Andrew Bateman and members, together with more than 1.2million Rotarians in clubs world-wide, have been at the forefront of actions to eradicate the crippling and sometime killer disease.

Now, only two countries are considered to be polio endemic- Pakistan and Afghanistan- and work is constantly being undertaken, through mass immunisation campaigns, to eradicate the disease completely from these areas.

In 1985 Rotary International made a pledge to the world’s population to eradicate polio. This would be only the only complete disease eradication since smallpox in 1980.

Since that fateful day, Rotary clubs have been involved in raising more than $2billion US in essential funds to deliver vaccines, as well as countless hours conducting mass Polio Immunisation Days in more than 122 countries and raising awareness of the disease across the globe.

Rotary has been joined in this by the World Heath Organisation, UNICEF, national governments and by the Bill and Melinda Gates (Microsoft) Foundation– who have all given massive matching grants and support to Rotary to assist and enhance the campaign.

Today it was announced that Africa had been declared ‘polio free’ following respite in Nigeria.  Now the 100 clubs throughout the Rotary District 1040 (Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire) have been energized into ‘finishing the job’ – Ending Polio Forever.

For further information on ROTARY efforts towards this momentous announcement, contact Andrew Bateman 07539 265 386

Poliomyelitis – The History

In the early 20th century, polio was one of the most feared diseases in industrialised countries, paralysing hundreds of thousands of children every year.

Soon after the introduction of effective vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s, however, polio was brought under control and practically eliminated as a public health problem in these countries.

Symptoms:

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the poliovirus.

It is spread from human-to-human contact.  Once someone has the virus, it invades into their brain or spinal cord and causes paralysis.

Most people (about every 72 out of 100 cases) won’t experience any visible symptoms.

The others might experience:

Sore throat; Fever; Nausea; Headache; Stomach pain.

More severe symptoms include paralysis of the body and meningitis.

Treatment:

There is no cure for polio once someone has been infected.  A polio vaccine is available and recommended for all people to take to prevent them from contracting the disease.  Prevalence of the disease is now uncommon and it is almost totally eradicated in many parts around the world.

A negative pressure ventilator, often referred to colloquially as an ‘Iron Lung’, is a nearly-obsolete mechanical respirator.  It enables a person to breathe on their own in a normal manner, when muscle control is lost, or the work of breathing exceeds the person’s ability.

They were created in the 1930s to help Polio sufferers and are now very rare.  Some people still require them in order to survive, but this has become increasingly uncommon.  However, those that do rely on the mechanical respirator are totally dependent on their mechanical exterior.

Polio History Source: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

back to page above this...

September Newsletter

back September Newsletter