27th January 2012

ILMINSTER: Good news for Rotarians in fight to eradicate polio

The Rotary Club of Ilminster is joining with colleagues from  across the world to cautiously celebrate a major milestone in the global effort to eradicate the crippling disease polio. India, until recently an epicentre of the  polio virus, has completed a full calendar year without recording a new case since January 13th, 2010.

President Deryk Outram said: “Here in Ilminster, Rotarians have worked with communities to raise funds for this life-saving campaign. It is incredible to think that every penny raised is helping to spare children from this crippling and sometimes fatal disease. 

“It has taken over 25 years but there is a lot of good news here and we are all hoping that tests will show that India is on the road to recovery.

“I’d like to thank everyone for supporting all our fundraisers and for helping in the drive to make polio history. If you would like to know more about how Rotary has helped eradicate polio, please do get in touch.”

 Until tests come back from surveillance teams, it will not be confirmed that India has been officially clear of polio for the past year, and it will be a further two years of successful tests before the country is declared polio free. 

However the milestone is seen as a testament to the determination of Rotary members in Great Britain and Ireland and the rest of the world, especially the 116,000-plus Rotarians of India, to eradicate the infectious disease through the mass immunisation of children, a goal Rotary took on 27 years ago. 

Rotary launched its polio eradication programme in 1985 and, in 1988, became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, new cases of polio have plummeted by more than 99 per cent, from more than 350,000 cases a year to only 604 reported so far for 2011. 

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