By Benjamin Mensah.
Accra, Oct 21, GNA- Ahead of this year’s World Polio Day on October 24, the Rotary Club Accra- Airport has organized a breakfast meeting in Accra to raise funds in support of the eradication of the disease.
Proceeds from the fundraising would support the Polio Plus Fund, through which Rotary International, with its international partners, had reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide since its first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
“We are close to eradicating polio, but we need your help,” Rotarians who spoke at the meeting emphasized, adding, “whether you have a few minutes or a few hours, donate to the fund to make a global impact and protect children against polio forever.”
Rotarians have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. For as little as $0.60, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease that affects children under five years of age and is transmitted by person-to-person spread through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle as contaminated water or food and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.
Since the Polio Plus programme’s inception in 1985, more than two billion children have received oral polio vaccine.
But Rotary International said its work was not done, and Rotarians stand at the brink of a great victory and look forward to celebrating the global eradication of the disease.
Ms. Esther Kiragu, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ghana, expressed appreciation to the Rotary Club in Ghana for supporting the course of eradication of polio.
“I must say that Rotary has been at it for the last three decades and its members have given their resources and supported the course one way or the other, with health workers to vaccinate children, preparing and distributing materials to raise awareness in hard-to-reach places including those isolated by conflict areas, mobilizing and recruiting volunteers among other contributions,” Ms. Kiragu said.
She recalled that some US 2.6 billion were raised at the recent World Health Summit, hoping that, that trajectory would be maintained to fund the Global Polio Eradication Initiative 2022-26 Strategy.
Ms Kiragu drew a link between the displacement of persons and becoming refugees as a result of wars and armed conflicts and said that did not make such persons have access to health, education, and livelihoods.
Ms. Kiragu said whereas at some point vaccination coverage was almost 100 percent during peacetime, there may be cases of re-emergence of polio and lack of access to vaccination due to discrimination or armed conflict.
She stressed peace and stability as prerequisites to achieving the goal of eradicating polio.
Dr. Francis Kasolo, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Ghana, underscored the need for enhanced polio surveillance and proactive response to curb the outbreak.
He also called for a broader coalition of all stakeholders to fight polio and other public health emergencies.
“This campaign marks a key milestone in our quest to contain the ongoing polio outbreak in Ghana. The tools for halting transmission of polioviruses have stood the test of time. Therefore, we must all join the fight against the polio outbreak and other public health emergencies by saying no to misinformation,” Dr Kasolo added.
Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, who was deputised for by Dr Kwame Amponsa-Akyianu, Programme manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), said the government appreciated the efforts of the Rotary Club and would encourage the organisation to do more.
Nana Yaa Siriboe, Past Assistant Governor of Rotary, appealed to the gathering, to at least make 10 –dollar donation each, saying it would go a long way in ending polio.
GNA
