Today is World Polio Day!
Over the last 10 years, the Rotary Club of Fort St. John is proud to have contributed $58,371 to PolioPlus and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, our small part in helping reduce the number of polio cases worldwide by 99.9% in the past three decades.
In 1988, the first year records for clubs were recorded, our club contributed $2027 to the fight. But we still have work to do to protect children around the globe, and we need your help.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can then attack the nervous system. For more than three years, we've seen wild polio cases in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
During a polio outbreak, children can become ill without warning, leaving parents to worry about how to keep their children safe from a virus spreading throughout their community. They may be hospitalized, develop muscle weakness, or paralysis. But a safe and effective polio vaccine has changed the outlook for billions of children around the world. And while there is no cure for polio, there is a vaccine that can prevent it.
This World Polio Day, take action with a gift to The Rotary Foundation to help ensure that no child suffers the effects of polio ever again. To learn more about polio and to make a contribution, please visit: endpolio.org