PHILIPSBURG:--- A highly infectious disease, polio causes paralysis and is sometimes fatal. As there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little as US 60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life. After an international investment of more than US$9 billion, and the successful engagement of over 200 countries and 20 million volunteers, polio could be the first human disease of the 21st century to be eradicated.
The message to world leaders is clear: support the final push to achieve eradication now while the goal has never been closer, or face the potential consequences of a new polio pandemic that could disable millions of children within a decade.
Since 1985, Rotary has contributed nearly $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. The disease remains endemic in three countries -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- although other countries remain at risk for imported cases.
Throughout the India and around the world, Rotary is celebrating a major milestone: it has been three years since India's last case of wild polio. This is a landmark achievement for global public health and the worldwide effort to eradicate polio.
Closer to home, the last cases identified in the Caribbean area were in Haiti/Dominican Republic in 1991. Before a Caribbean vaccination drive, estimated deaths in Latin America/Caribbean in the 1970s totaled c. 15,000 cases and 1,750 deaths per annum.
Rebecca Low, Assistant District Governor for Rotary District 7020 which includes St Maarten said "given the confirmation of cases in previously polio-free Syria, it means that we need to be ever more vigilant in our work both locally and abroad." Rotary's International PolioPlus Committee chair Robert S. Scott, further states, that this serves "as a stark reminder that as long as polio still exists, unimmunized children everywhere remain at risk." In response to the outbreak in Syria, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, along with local health authorities, are conducting large-scale campaigns to immunize children in the region as quickly as possible. Rotary is the first donor to announce funding to WHO for the GPEI's new Middle East strategic plan a $500,000 emergency response grant for Syria.
In St. Maarten the three Rotary Clubs are working to raise funds for Rotary's 'End Polio Now' campaign. Initiatives are ongoing and have included such things as a special charity flea market held at Air Lekkerbeck by Rotary Sunrise in November.
Join with concerned Rotarians and help to eradicate polio in our lifetime. With global travel nowadays, it can be easily transmitted across national borders, or across the globe, as has already happened with wild outbreaks in several world areas.
If you are interested in learning more about Rotary contact any of the three Rotary clubs in St. Maarten.
