Rotatians’ bright idea to boost polio battle
ROTARIANS in Southport teamed up with the Royal Clifton Hotel to light up the building in purple to highlight the work that Rotary Club has done to rid the world of polio.
On World Polio Day Rotarians went out and about to celebrate the work done so far and to raise awareness.
Members of the public were invited to join them and donate to the cause.
Rotary members throughout Great Britain and Ireland have done all sorts of things and lit all sorts of famous buildings, areas and structures in purple, bringing people together to raise awareness and donations for the Rotary End Polio Now campaign.
All the funds raised with two-to-one matching from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be sent to immunise children around the globe with a potentially life-saving oral polio vaccine costing about 20p,
Dianne Harrison, president elect of Southport Rotary Club said: “We’re very proud of our continued support of polio eradication and our joint club event with our partner, Royal Clifton Hotel, was a real success.
“Keeping the issue of polio in the public’s eye is really important because we have to all step up and work together to be able to finish the job.
“Any contribution we can make towards this huge global movement makes a difference.”
Since Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) more than 30 years ago, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.99%, from about 350,000 cases a year in 125 countries to just 33 cases in 2018 and with just two countries reporting cases of wild polio virus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In order to sustain this progress, about two billion doses of the vaccine still have to be given to more than 400 million children in up to 60 countries every year.
This is in addition to the routine immunisations elsewhere around the world, including in the UK and Ireland.
Without full funding, political commitment and volunteer-led social action, there is a real threat that polio could return, putting children worldwide at risk.
Rotary has committed to raising $50m (£38.8m) each year to support global polio eradication efforts, with that funding matched two-to-one by The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rotary has contributed more than $1.9bn (£1.47bn) to ending polio since 1985.
Children and other organisations will be planting crocuses around Southport to raise awareness and be a reminder of what has been achieved.
The purple crocus is a reminder of the purple dye used to mark the children’s finger to show they have been immunised against the disease