End Polio Now

Bideford Bridge Rotary Club raise awareness of End Polio Now

For over 35 years, Rotary and its members have been committed to eradicate polio across the world and its Purple4Polio activities are to raise funds and awareness for its End Polio Now campaign.

When a child receives their life-saving polio drops on mass polio immunisation days, their little finger is painted with a purple dye so it is clear they have received their polio vaccine. It costs just 20p to immunise a child

Rotary’s pledge for a polio free world was made in 1985 when there were 125 polio endemic countries and hundreds of new cases every single day. Since then the Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation (Microsoft) have supported our cause by adding a 2-to-1 donation matching scheme which means that every £1 donated becomes £3. In the past few years, only two countries have reported cases of polio caused by the wild poliovirus but no child anywhere is safe until every child has been fully vaccinated.

Thanks to Rotary, and the support of our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there are now just two countries still classed as endemic: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To finish the job over 2 billion doses of oral polio vaccine still have to be administered, to more than 400 million children in over 50 countries, each and every year. We have to have zero cases of polio and zero positive environmental samples before the world can finally be certified polio free.

Following the Purple theme the Rotary Club of Bideford Bridge has purchased the purple crocuses planted around the town and the club makes regular donations to the cause.  www.bidefordbridge.rotary1175.org