World Polio Day - Rotarians working together in communities to eradicate Polio

The fight continues to eradicate polio. Over the past several years polio cases have seen a drastic decline and are only totally about 0.1 percent across the world. Communities across the nation are being asked to focus their attention on the fight against polio for World Polio Day and join together to eliminate polio for good.

World Polio Day is Oct. 24 and aimed at raising awareness of Rotary’s polio eradication efforts, a push to raise funds and other educational outreach opportunities. Recently the Greater Big Spring Rotary hosted the annual Pints for Polio event and raised more than $44,000. According to statistics put together by Rotarian Jeff Ward, through the donation there will be $66,000 donated from the Pints for Polio event and in turn will be able to purchase 132,000 doses of the vaccine. Each dose costs about 50 cents.

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. Poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours. It can strike people of any age but mainly affects children under five.

“We are 99.9% of the way to eradicating polio, but until that last 0.1 percent is eradicated we have to keep pushing forward and working to end polio,” Jason Beck, Greater Big Spring Rotary Club Treasurer, said.

According to statistics, it has been more than 275 days since the last case of the wild poliovirus Type 1 occurred in Afghanistan; more than 245 days since the last case of wild poliovirus Type 1 occurred in Pakistan. Since New Year’s Day there has been two cases of wild poliovirus Type 1.

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent, and just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. And we remain committed to the end.

With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.

To find out how to help locally reach out to any member of the Greater Big Spring Rotary Club or the Big Spring Rotary Club. Also visit endpolio.org to find out more about the Rotary campaign to End Polio Now.