Rotary Club Jávea continues its fight to eradicate polio
Since 1985, the Rotary Club has immunized more than 2.5 billion children against the disease.
Tuesday 19th October 2021 – PRESS RELEASE with Mike Smith
On Sunday 24th October, the Rotary Club de Jávea will be marking ‘World Polio Eradication Day’ with a sponsored walk along the coast of Xàbia between the beach of La Grava in the port to the beach of the Arenal, not only to raise much needed funds to contribute to that fight through vaccination programmes, but also to raise awareness of a disease that is still affecting the world, especially countries on the African continent.
The fight to end polio is currently led by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) which includes ROTARY, UNICEF, WHO, CDC Atlanta, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI.
As an organization, the Rotary Club began its worldwide immunization programme in 1985 at a time when around 1,000 children were being paralyzed by polio every day. Since then, reported cases have been dramatically reduced until only two cases of wild polio virus type 1 have been reported worldwide so far in 2021, one in Afghanistan and one in Pakistan, whilst another 341 cases have been reported, largely in African countries, because of a virus that affects people with low immune systems in under-vaccinated populations.
The Rotary Club uses its skills and the passion of its members to raise awareness, raise funds, and encourage governments to donate and support polio eradication efforts. Since 1985, more than a million Rotarians have volunteered their time and resources to help achieve this aim. The result is that more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries have been immunized. Polio cases have been drastically reduced around the world, but it is essential to continue these efforts until the disease is completely eradicated. And that means zero cases!
To end polio, the transmission of wild polio virus in the two countries that continue to report cases – Afghanistan and Pakistan – must be stopped. If polio is not completely eradicated, we could see a global resurgence of the disease with up to 200,000 new cases each year for the next 10 years, worldwide. Thus, it is important to increase surveillance efforts to quickly detect any regrowth of the virus and this means that a wide network of laboratories and logistics needs to be created and maintained for sample collection. Fundraising is therefore still very much needed.
The sponsored walk departs the port zone at 10.00am on Sunday 24th October and participants can contribute 10 euros to participate. Interested parties can also sign up for a virtual race at www.rotarypoliorace.com.
