from The Rotary Club of Halifax North West
Welcome to the monthly newsletter from the Rotary Club of Halifax Northwest, where we share the club’s and Rotary’s news and activities with the communities we serve. The Rotary theme for December is Disease Prevention and Treatment. This Rotary Moment edition focuses on world Polio eradication.
Quick Facts
The average cost to fully protect a child against polio: $3
The total number of children vaccinated in 39 countries in 2017: $400 Million
The annual cost to conduct polio surveillance worldwide: $100 Million
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever, and yet cases continue to occur, so we can never turn our back on it. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative*, we’ve reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
*The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six partners: the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance. Its goal is to eradicate polio worldwide.
The recent detection of variant poliovirus type-2 isolated in environmental samples and the confirmation of a 10-month-old child who has contracted polio in Gaza are stark reminders that as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat everywhere. A humanitarian pause allowed a two-round polio vaccination campaign that began in Gaza on 1 September. Rotary committed US$500,000 to bolster the initiative, channelling these funds through a dedicated Polio Outbreak Response Fund.
That’s what Rotary does!
Our Rotary Club of Halifax Northwest welcomes everyone to explore community service with us! We pride ourselves on being diverse and inclusive – and we’re friendly! If you want to know more or if you would like to see if being a Rotarian might be a good “fit” for you, contact our Membership Chair, Roger Chiasson at rogerchiasson305@gmail.com or 782 234 9408. Or pop in for one of our lunches. We meet every Tuesday from 1145 to 1 pm at Station Six restaurant at 247 Herring Cove Road in Spryfield.
Photo credits to: https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/end-polio
