Health AreasUncategorized

World Polio Day; Walking the last mile for every child

Today, is World Polio Day.

I choose to take a stand.

As a Rotarian

As a mother

As a health journalist 

As an individual

To protect every child from this virulent virus that causes the delabitating disease, Polio. Let us take a few minutes to learn a few facts about polio.

What is polio?

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.

How is it transmitted?

The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently through contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine.

What are the signs and symptoms?

The initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. In some cases, the disease causes paralysis, which can be permanent..

Is it preventable?

Whereas there is no cure for polio, it can be prevented through a polio vaccine, which when given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

Is the polio vaccine safe?

All vaccines offered by the Ministry of Health are tested, safe and effective. The only way to protect children from this crippling and killer polio disease and other vaccine related diseases is by vaccinating our children each and every time.

How is Rotary International involved to End Polio?

Polio remains endemic in three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.Rotary International Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years. As a founding partner of the , Rotary has helped to reduce polio cases by more than 99.9 percent.

But more work needs to be done in collaboration with partners.

A report by the Director General at the 72nd World Health Assembly acknowledges the urgent need to eradicate wild polioviruses as soon as possible, both to prevent global re-emergence of such strains, and also to enable the rapid cessation of oral polio vaccine use, and thereby prevent long-term risks of outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses.

“There is no reason why polio should persist anywhere in the world,” read part of the statement on attaining and sustaining a world free from all polioviruses, issued after the Nineteenth meeting of the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication, Amman, Jordan in October last year.

Indeed, polio should not persist anywhere. Let is join hands to #EndPolio.



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