Rotarians in Tiverton have vowed to continue the fight against polio eradication.
In thanking the speaker at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Tiverton at the Tiverton Hotel, Andrew Herniman said: “You have reawakened our need to maintain our awareness of the situation. Whilst major progress has been made there is still more to do.”
He was thanking Rotarian Sally Wilcox, a former member of the Club, who, with her partner, Paul Watkins, had attended Rotary’s National Polio Immunisation Day (NID) in India in January. Rotary International’s investment in the endeavour to rid the world of polio has been massive. Over $1.7 billion has so far been committed with governments, especially of affected countries, paying $8.5 billion. However, a further $1.5 billion is still needed.
Sally and Paul were involved in applying immunisations to the children in India and during the NID period between 170 and 172 million children were immunised. Those receiving the vaccine had their little finger painted purple so that it was clear they had been immunised which is why the Rotary slogan “Purple for Polio” has been used in recent years.
Rotary’s involvement began in the mid-eighties and in 1988 there were 125 countries with polio as a major problem. Now only three, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, are regarded as endemic though other countries are at risk. Only 28 new cases were diagnosed in 2018, a slight increase on the previous year, but a fantastic reduction from the 350,000 in 1988 and the 1651 recorded as recently as 2008.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation now triple the donations made and with the upturn in the number of countries at risk, the price of freedom from polio is eternal vigilance. As Sally said, “It is not over until it is over everywhere”.
For further information about the work of Rotary International contact Tiverton Rotary Club Secretary, Andrea Rowe, on roweandrea@me.com or on 01884 258820. The Club’s website is on tinyurl.com/tivertonrotary
