Help Eradicate Polio
Battling against polio
The world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufThe world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufThe world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufThe world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufThe world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufThe world has never been closer to ending polio for good. Since making a pledge to eradicate polio in 1985, Rotary International, together with partner health agencies, has brought down the number of cases by 99.9%, putting polio on the brink of being only the second disease ever to be completely eradicated.
There are now only three polio endemic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and with a simple immunisation, children can be prevented from ever contracting this debilitating and potentially fatal illness.
What is polio? Find out more here.
Rotary International has been working with partner organisations to administer immunisations across the world, and during national immunisation days, many millions of children can be protected from polio. But more needs to be done if we are to succeed in ending polio for good.
Want to help? Make a donation or get involved with your local Rotary club.
- See more at: http://www.ribi.org/endpolionow#sthash.stbLriX0.dpufSince making the pledge in 1985 to eradicate polio - its most ambitious programme to date - Rotary International in partnership with health agencies has brought the number of cases of polio down by 99 percent.
This last one percent must be wiped out to make sure no child falls prey to this paralysing and sometimes fatal illness.
The children pictured are showing off their painted little fingers - purple dye is used to signify a completed immunisation.
Polio is the shortened name of poliomyelitis, the crippling disease caused by the polio virus. One in 200 cases results in paralysis, which leads to the limbs of the victim becoming limp and disfigured. The paralysis is almost always irreversible. Historically, polio has been the world's greatest cause of disability.
Regular immunisation activities, supported by Rotary members from Great Britain and Ireland and across the world, are having a positive impact, particularly in India which has been declared officially polio free.
During national immunisation days (NID) in India, as many as 65-million children can be immunised. Volunteers hold these days every six weeks and will visit remote villages and the slum areas to deliver the life-saving vaccine. Booths are set up in major cities, attracting school children and families, who will travel for miles to protect their children.
Polio can strike at any age but currently affects mainly children under five years of age in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is passed through person-to-person contact and is most prevalent in overcrowded conditions where standards of hygiene are poor. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.
Because there is no cure, the best protection against polio is prevention. For as little as 25p worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.
We have not had polio in Great Britain and Ireland for a long time now, yet many people aged 60 and over will remember fears about the use of swimming pools or swimming in the sea during hot summers and have vivid memories of victims in iron lungs.
Polio knows no borders and carriers frequently move from one country to another. The virus can therefore reappear in previously polio free countries.
If polio isn't eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children could be paralysed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalise on its US$4 billion global investment in eradication.
Polio continues to be an issue which is of great concern across the world and has not escaped the notice of world leaders. Millions of dollars have been pledged to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Be part of the polio eradication initiative and help save a child's life by getting involved with your local Rotary club activities or donate now.
Help Eradicate Polio sub-pages:
Planting Crocuses with Newlyn primary school
more to highlight the work we are doing to eradicate polio and protect children worldwide.
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