Rotary help free Africa from Polio
Posted
on Aug 08, 2015
.jpg)
On the 11th August, Nigeria and Africa will be celebrating a full year without any new cases of polio. Just over a quarter of a century ago, the virus was endemic in 128 countries, crippling 350,000 children a year. We in Malta have also been scared and have had cases of this terrible disease. “This is a disease that cannot be controlled, it has to be eradicated, said WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer.
There are now only two countries left, Afghanistan and Commonwealth country, Pakistan, which still get a few cases of polio. Once polio is wiped out, it will be only the second disease, after smallpox, to have been vaccinated out of existence.
The fight in Nigeria has not been easy. For more than a generation, Rotary has led the drive to eradicate polio, administering vaccinations to 2.5 billion children in 122 
countries at a cost of $1.4 billion.
countries at a cost of $1.4 billion.Rotary Clubs in Malta have been playing their part over the years, in collecting and donating funds to Rotary International, for this noble cause.
The work has been assisted with the help of UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups, the effort put in has achieved success in a relatively short time. But we are not quite finished yet.
K.R.Ravindran, Rotary International current President stated, “The economic, humanitarian, and ethical imperatives for eradication are clear. We cannot miss the chance we have before us, to ensure that thirty years of global investment pay their ultimate dividend: a world forever free of polio”.