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Local Rotary Clubs working to eradicate polio, invite public to flag raising

October 19, 2023   ·   0 Comments

Rotary Clubs throughout Canada and their partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) have made significant contributions to help reduce polio cases by 99.9 per cent worldwide over the past 35 years, lowering the circulation of wild polio to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Orangeville has two active Rotary clubs – the Rotary Club of Orangeville, which hosts the Ribfest each year and the Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands, the organization behind the annual Taste of Autumn event.

Over the years, both clubs have donated funds that covered polio vaccinations for over 18,000 children. 

And Rotary is committed to remaining a partner in this health measure until polio is completely eradicated.

Polio causes irreversible paralysis, and as recently as 1988, there were an estimated 350,000 annual paralytic wild polio cases across more than 125 countries.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the last two countries still facing endemic wild poliovirus.

The Rotary clubs in Orangeville invite the public to Orangeville Town Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m., for a World Polio Day proclamation with Mayor Lisa Post. There will also be an “End Polio Now” flag raisin to recognize the efforts of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and support the fight for a polio-free world.

“We have an opportunity to make history by ending polio, which will be only the second human disease ever to be eradicated,” said the Rotary Club of Orangeville in a press release. “The first and only disease to be eradicated is smallpox.”

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