Rotary Port Alfred have embarked on an initiative in line with its international controlling body to create awareness of the polio disease that is still afflicting some countries of the world, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Rotary members sold cupcakes at Rosehill Mall, Port Alfred on Wednesday last week, October 24 – World Polio Day – to raise funds and create awareness about the disease. Rotary International who began the Polio Awareness project as far back as 1985 and with initial target to raise $120-million to help fight the disease, believes the threat is not yet over.
In 1988, Rotary International and the World Health Organisation launched the Polio Eradication Initiative, covering an estimated 350,000 cases in 125 countries.
Rotary says its total contribution so far to polio eradication across the world exceeds $500m.
“Countries where polio was once eliminated are relaxing their vaccination efforts, mistakenly thinking the threat is over,” says Rotary International’s Maddy Webber who was at the cupcake stand at Rosehill Mall. “But polio is actually only a flight away. This tragic reality has been highlighted again recently in Gaza, where the threat has resurfaced.”
Webber says to understand the polio disease, currently there is a distinction between wild poliovirus (WPV) and vaccine-derived poliovirus. Wild poliovirus (WPV) is a naturally occurring strain of poliovirus that can be prevented and eliminated through vaccination.
The vaccine-derived polio occurs when the weakened vaccine virus in the oral polio vaccine mutates in to a stronger, paralysing virus.
WPV is highly infectious and can cause irreversible paralysis.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan are still WPV polio endemic countries,” says Webber.
“And though countries like Egypt, Niger, and Nigera have been declared WPV-free by the World Health Organisation in 2020, they are not free of vaccine-derived polio virus. The same applies to India,” adds Webber.
Rotary Port Alfred’s effort in creating awareness about the disease is part of its international mandate of making it the organisation’s signature cause. Webber says Rotary Port Alfred and its branches across the world remain committed to this cause until polio is eradicated all around the globe.
“For example, while Africa has been declared wild polio-free, the fight is not yet over. Polio still exists in other parts of the world and vigilance is key to ensuring it does not return to the African continent,” says Webber.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, October 31, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
