| The polio Plus
program is the most ambitious program in Rotary history. It's goal is nothing short of
wiping the Polio virus off the face of the earth, so that no child will ever get polio
again. eradicating Polio by the year 2000, and certifying this eradication by 2005,
Rotary's 100th birthday, is a priority of the highest order of RotaryInternational. Rotary's work toward Polioeradication began as a
countryproject in the Philipines in 1979. This project was so successful that it
ultimately led to the launch in 1985of Rotaryy's campaign to provide enough vacine to
immunise 500million children worldwids. The campaign became known as Polio Plus. The
campaign was successful beyond expectatio, raising nearly twice the original goal.
The world then recognised, fromRotary's early
successes and rotaians' commitment to providing massive, well organised volunteer service,
that this dream could become reality. In 1988 the World Health Assembly announced a
majorcommitment: GLOBAL POLIO ERADICATION BY THE YEAR 2000.
At that time, the vast majority of the world's
children were threatened by Polio. Over 35,000 cases of Polio were reported in1988. WHO
estimates that up to at least ten times that number were actually occuring at that time.
There has been trmendous progress in the battle
against Polio, since Rotary became involved:
- In 1984, Rotary helped celebrate the elimination
of Polio from the entire Western hemisphere.
- The Western Pacific region is likely to be next
area to become Polio free. In this Region the last child identified with polio was in
Cambodia in March 1997.
- The remaining challenges are in Africa, South
Asia and the Middle East. Approx. 50 countries are still Polio endemic
- At least 60 countries are now Polio free.
This dramatic progress is the result of a
carefully coordinated and focused strategy. An obvious componet of this strategy is
immunization - getting the vacine to the children. In addition toroutine immunization,
National Immunization Days (NIDS) are massive immunization campaigns that take place
during one or two days, and target all children under 5.NIDS were held in 79 countries
last year. Later, if pockets of unprotected children are discovered, health care workers
go out to these areas and, even if it means going door to door, they make sure that those
kids are immunized - that's a mop-up campaign. In 1997, over 450 million children - three
quaters of the World's children were vaccinated against Polio.
Mobilizing Rotarians and hundreds of thousands
of others is a contribution to the Polioeradication effort that few, if any, other
organizations could offer. Rotarians in Polio endemic countries are providing hands on
assistance and material support, in a variety of ways. For example, last january over 130
million children were immunized in India in one day.
Once Polio is eradicated, the world will save
US$1.5 billion annually. More importantly, no child or parent will ever need to fear this
disease again.
All of us, as Rotarians, have made a promise to
the children of the world. it takes all of us, incountless ways, to fulfill that promise.
this is Rotary's gift to the children of the 21st century - we can't let them down!
If you require further details or would like to
purchase "Pennies for
Polio" please forward your
details below to the Rotary Club Of Karratha. |
