With us celebrating End Polio Now Day on the 24th of October we have the following article submitted by George Blenkhorn.
End Polio Now Day 24th October
Poliomyelitis (Polio) or Infantile Paralysis as it has been known for many years is caused by a virus which is very infectious and while most infected children only have flu like symptoms 1 in 200 have paralysis.The degree of paralysis varies from a mild loss of muscle function to a total paralysis and death in extreme cases. There is no cure for the paralysis today.The first vaccine to protect children against polio was developed in 1955 and was used widely in developed countries.
In 1979 when Rotary decided to start a campaign to eradicate polio there were an estimated 350,000 cases of paralysis occurring worldwide each year. In that year Rotary started the campaign by vaccinating 6 million children in the Philippines.
After this successful start Rotary launched Polio Plus in 1985. The first ever internationally co-ordinated private sector support for a public health initiative with the aim of raising US$200 million and expanding the campaign to other countries.
Three years later the World Health Organisation joined the campaign along with many National Governments taking the campaign worldwide.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation started to contribute in 2009 with the offer of US$2 for each US$1 that Rotary raise. To date the worldwide cost is has been over US$8 Billion and Rotary has contributed just over US$1 Billion. Still more money is needed before we are able to have the world declared Polio Free. The Rotary Club of Pakenham has contributed US$100 for each member of the Club annually for many years. This money is obtained through our fund raising activities in our community.
This year only two countries are polio endemic, Afghanistan with 16 cases and Pakistan with 72 cases. This is very disappointing as at this time last year there were only 28 cases in those two countries. However this is a reflection of the difficulties in getting sufficient children vaccinated to prevent passage of the virus. The Governments of of both countries are very supportive of polio eradication. In Pakistan in August 8.3 million children were vaccinated in a case response campaign and 39.4 children were vaccinated in their most recent National Immunisation Day. All children are vaccinated as they cross the border each way between the two countries.
Sue and I went to India in 2010 to assist in their National Immunisation Day. Whilst vaccinating children the Grandfather in the photo heard that Australians were there vaccinating the children. He brought his grand daughter to the small shrine where we were and asked us to take a photo of his daughter who had been crippled by polio. He said this very important as we needed to take the photo back to Australia and show people there what Polio does and how important it is to eliminate the disease. A very emotional moment I can assure you.
