Rotary Club celebrates World Polio Day

The Rotary Club of Dominica today joins with over 34,000 other Rotary clubs around the world to observe World Polio Day. This is a day observed every October 24th to raise awareness of the crippling Poliomyelitis virus and Rotary International’s fund raising efforts to eliminate the disease.

Poliomyelitis, or polio as it is called, is a viral disease that can affect nerves and can lead to partial or full paralysis. It is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. The virus spreads by direct person-to-person contact, by contact with infected mucus or phlegm from the nose or mouth, or by contact with infected feces.

The virus enters through the mouth and nose, multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract, and then is absorbed and spread through the blood and lymph system. The time from being infected with the virus to developing symptoms of disease (incubation) ranges from 5 – 35 days (average 7 – 14 days).

Risks include:
•    Lack of immunization against polio and then exposure to polio
•    Travel to an area that has experienced a polio outbreak

In areas where there is an outbreak, those most likely to get the disease include children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
The disease is more common in the summer and fall. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic, causing the death of thousands of children, and crippling thousands more. Since the development of polio vaccines, the incidence of the disease has been greatly reduced. Complete global polio eradication is absolutely necessary to prevent the disease from remerging as a global epidemic once more.

In 1985 Rotary International embarked on its most ambitious effort yet, pulling the resources of its 1.2 million members around the globe to give of their time and money in helping to eradicate polio completely. Rotary partnered with many international organizations and governments to achieve this goal, inspiring the World Health Assembly to pass a resolution to eradicate polio, which paved the way for the formation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.

Rotary has since raised nearly US$800 million to this effort, and the world has seen the number of polio endemic countries reduced from nearly every country in the world to only four remaining countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Rotary’s latest partnership is with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation which initially pledged US$200 million to the effort, and challenged Rotary International to match the contribution through fund raising efforts. Foundation Chairman Bill Gates later increased their pledge by a further US$155 million for a combined total of US$555 million to be raised.

Since then Rotary clubs around the world have taken to raising funds towards this effort, while individual members are also encouraged to personally donate US$100 each year as well. To date Rotary International has raised over US$176 million out of the $200 million challenge.

Locally the Rotary Club of Dominica is doing its part in raising funds for polio eradication. One of its chief fund raising activities for this cause is a joint venture with Tuner Lifestyles dubbed Creolé on the Savannah, to be held on Saturday October 29th, 2011 from 12 noon to 6pm. This will entail creolé food, music and a motorbike stunt show on the Goodwill Savannah. Proceeds from this activity go toward the Global Polio fund. The Rotary club will also celebrate its 39th charter anniversary on November 2nd where a Dutch auction at the charter dinner will raise further funds for polio eradication. Other fund raising projects are also in the pipeline.

Individuals wishing to contribute may do so by going to http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/donate.aspx or emailing [email protected].