Submitted by Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands.

Oct. 24 is World Polio Day, a time for awareness and information on how you can help end this crippling disease’s effect on the world’s children. Since the inception of the local Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands in 2003, the Club has donated over $80,000 to the effort and individual members have donated over $100,000. Proceeds from the annual Rotary Car Show go toward PolioPlus as well as local nonprofits that benefit families and children.

In 32 years, the disease’s strong hold has gone from 124 polio-endemic countries to two (Afghanistan and Pakistan). Sadly, the polio virus has made a recent resurgence in several countries due to altering of the vaccine in 2016 (it’s complicated). The pared-down vaccine version has allowed Type 2 vaccine-related cases to emerge. Places like Gaza, where crowding is occurring and people are on the move looking for safety, are particularly vulnerable. It’s not clear yet whether it can be contained in Gaza. World health officials are racing to combat its reemergence in other places as well.

Rotary International is a founding member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative which has reduced polio cases by 99.9% since its first project to vaccinate children. The “plus” in PolioPlus means something other than just provided vaccines, for example: clean water, bed nets and vitamin A drops given at the same time as the vaccine to boost immunity to infectious diseases are provided.

It’s estimated that due to this effort, the disease has been prevented from infecting 20 million children. Since there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little as 60 cents a child can be protected for life.

Thanks to a two-one match from the Gates Foundation, every donation made at https://my.rotary.org/en/polioplus-fund will be tripled. Help us make polio the first human disease of the 21st century to be eradicated.

Attend a Local Rotary Breakfast Meeting – held every Wednesday at Friday Harbor Inn and Suites 7:45-9 a.m. For more information visit https://Portal.ClubRunner.CA/1358.