Rotary members in North Bay are taking action in honour of World Polio Day to raise awareness, funds, and support to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that still threatens children in parts of the world today.
On Thursday, October 24 at 10 a.m., Rotarians will be participating in a one-hour walk, starting at the Rotary Splash Pad, in support of World Polio Day/polio eradication.
"The public is welcome to participate in the walk and to make a donation to the Rotary Club of North Bay, requesting their contribution be designated to the PolioPlus fund.”
World Polio Day (24 October) was established by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
"Polio anywhere is a threat everywhere, and Rotary members from North Bay have raised funds over the years to end the paralyzing virus, which will be only the second human disease ever to be eradicated." says a news release.
Rotary has contributed more than US$2.7 billion to fight polio and countless volunteer hours since launching its PolioPlus program in 1985. In 1988, Rotary joined in partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to form the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, later joined. When the initiative launched, there were 350,000 cases of polio every year. Today, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9%.
To sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine, Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1 for a total yearly contribution of US$150 million.
Visit Rotary.org and endpolio.org for more about Rotary and its efforts to eradicate polio. For more about the Rotary Club of North Bay visit www.rotaryclubofnorthbay.org.
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