Mangaluru: October 24th being World Polio Day, Rotary International which is in the front run to eradicate polio completely from the world is doing a series of activities to educate and bring awareness about polio immunisation.
As a similar effort at the local level, the Rotary International District 3181 led by its Governor Rtn Rohinath P organized an ‘End Polio Now’ awareness rally in Mangaluru. The rally was flagged off at Ambedkar Circle and culminated at the District Commissioners office premises. The rally was supported by District Administration, Department of Health and Family Welfare, NPSP (WHO), Rotaract Clubs, Students of Nursing Association and Mangalore Cycling Club.
Speaking on the occasion, Rotary International District 3181 Governer Rtn Rohinath P said “Creating a polio free world is our motto. Since 1988, we are actively working on polio eradication. We have achieved the mark of 99.9% and the remaining 0.1% is all that needs to be achieved.”
“All need to work towards polio free country and world. The neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan have reported few cases of polio recently, which is alarming. Due to such a circumstance, it is likely that anytime the importation of the virus would be possible. So all members need to support the immunistation programmes”, he added.
Dist 3181 Counsellor Past Dist Governor Rtn Krishna Shetty, Assistant Governor Zone 2 Rtn Kiran Prasad Rai, Assistant Governor Zone 3 Rtn Divakar Amin, Dist 3181 Governor Nominee Rtn Ranganath Bhat, Dist Pulse Polio Chairman Rtn Dr Muralikrishna, Dist.Secretary (Projects) Rtn Vikram Datta, Dist Secretary (Administration) Rtn Vikram Prabhu, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr M Ramakrishna Rao were present.
World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. As of 2013, GPEI had reduced polio worldwide by 99%.
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines. Polio can be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free.
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