On March 11, our own Lisa Bellamy attended Rotary International’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative Event held at the House of Commons in London.
RI President Stephanie Urchick provided introductory remarks before turning the presentation over to Dr. Hamid Jafari, Director for Polio Eradication at the Eastern Mediterranean Office of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Jafari discussed the efforts to stop the transmission of the wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the polio outbreak in Gaza earlier this year due to the inability to provide vaccinations in this area of conflict. Brandon Foley, a polio survivor from Ireland, put a face on what was once a deadly and life-altering disease and stressed that the world can not become complacent in its ongoing vaccination efforts and allow this now virtually unseen disease to rise again.
In Lisa’s words, “I left this event realizing that I, too, take for granted this decades-long program to stop this disease that harmed so many people in my grandparents’ generation.
“Recent cutbacks in foreign aid initiatives, which have supported worldwide polio eradication efforts, may lead to as many as 200,000 new cases of polio each year over the next ten years. This is not the time to cease polio vaccination efforts when a worldwide vaccination process has been established. Rotary alone has contributed more than $2.1 billion to protect children against this disease. Without continued support, all of these efforts may be wasted.
“The morning after the event, I went to the My Rotary website and donated to the Polio Plus Fund. The Gates Foundation will make a matching donation to the Polio Plus Find in the amount of three times my donation.”
Please consider making a donation to Rotary’s Polio Plus Fund to celebrate World Immunization Week in April.
