Marking World Polio DAY
October 24th 2019 marked World Polio Day.
World Polio Day 2019 was an annual opportunity for Rotary members to rally the world around the fight to eradicate the disease forever. Since 1905, along with its partners, Rotary has helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries.
In 1988, when Rotary and its partners founded the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the paralyzing disease affected 350,000 children. Our collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and later the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, local health workers, and national governments has helped reduce that number by 99.9 percent.
And now, on World Polio Day 2019, the independent Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) declared wild poliovirus type 3 to be globally eradicated. This is a major milestone in the global effort to rid the world of all poliovirus strains and ensure that no child will ever again be paralyzed by any polio-virus anywhere.
“We must stay the course. Together, we can make sure the children of the future only learn about polio in history books.”
Closer home, different clubs marked World Polio Day 2019 in style.
One of them was a Joint Venture between the Rotary Club of Ongata Rongai and the Rotary Club of Kikuyu, who held a polio vaccination and awareness event at Ongata Rongai Hospital with over 900 people attending the event.
Some of the activities during the event included;
- Polio Mass Awareness to over 900 attendees
- Polio Vaccination of 39 children at Ongata Rongai Hospital
- Shared goodies and gifts to parents who had brought their children for vaccination.
- Donated to the DGs initiative of Polio End Game. Over 80% of the RC Kikuyu members have donated since the paybill number was launched.
Another Club was the Rotary Club of Nakuru that held a polio walk.
The idea of the Nakuru Polio Walk was conceived in the Rotaract Club of Menengai when Rotaractor Daisy Nyangasi approached Rotarian Ashley Gasperi, Chair of New Generation requesting the Rotary Club of Nakuru to join hands and plan a walk for polio to raise awareness and money for the foundation.
Rotaractors quickly mobilized representatives from Rotaract Clubs of Menengai, Bahati, Kabarak, and Egerton Town Campus to participate. Rotaractors took care of the branding (fliers, banners, t-shirts), mobilization of participants and sourcing for sponsors for the walk. Rotary Club of Nakuru chaired the team, mentored the Rotaractors and guided with materials to engage potential sponsors and engaged the proper stakeholders to also sponsor and participate in the walk. The polio walk was a joint event with Rotary, the Ministry of Health, the Department of Social Services and the Ministry of Education, all at the Nakuru County level
The Polio walk was officially flagged off by RC Nakuru President Jayesh Shah and County Executive Committee (CEC) Health Dr. Kariuki Gichuki. Participants danced their way through Nakuru town holding polio banners high and recruiting more participants along the way. The polio walk culminated with over 300 participants, mostly who joined along the way
The main aim of the Nakuru Polio Walk was to raise awareness on the disease and consequently, launch a 3 month fundraising campaign towards the same. So far, over 200,000sh has been collected in the drive.
The occasion was graced by District 9212 Governor, Joe Otin, who shared nuggets on the need for members to commit in eradicating polio from the face of the earth.
The event was also graced by two polio ambassador; Josphat Kimemia the UNICEF Immunization Ambassador in Nakuru County and a victim of polio, Mr. Mugo.
To contribute to the #PolioEndGame, log onto either via www.endpolio.org/donate or M-Pesa Paybill Business Number: 891300; Account Number: POLIO.
“… As we elevate our game in 2019-20, we take initiative to double our impact: across the globe through polio eradication; in our communities through service projects; and in ourselves through informative and engaging club fellowships and well-planned purposeful events at club, country, district and multi-district level…” DRR Samuel Karanja, 2019
By Steve Maina | Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central
