Rotary Club gets update on worldwide eradication of polio
11/04/2009 by Max Marbut Staff Writer Twenty-two years ago, the members of Rotary International made a commitment to do whatever it took to eradicate polio from the planet. While that goal has not been met, the disease no longer afflicts children in many countries. At its meeting Monday, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville welcomed Dist. 6970 Governor-elect Cynde Covington, who went on a mission to India earlier this year to vaccinate children against polio. She also brought a slide presentation of pictures she and her husband, Barry, took on their trip. Covington said in 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio in the world but now only 1,247 are known to exist. “And most of those are in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria,” she said. She described the people she worked with on the mission as an “army of volunteers who work every day to vaccinate children against polio. Rotarians and health care workers went door-to-door to make sure no child was missed.” Covington and the rest of the 45-member team of volunteers took part in India’s “National Immunization Day,” with the goal of inoculating every child in Delhi, India. In addition to visiting homes and slums, teams were also set up in streets to administer the oral polio vaccine to children who passed by in automobiles and even on motor scooters. The mass public immunizations are conducted three times each year in India, coordinated by the Indian government, religious organizations and the United Nations. “That day 172 million children received the vaccine — two precious drops,” said Covington. She told about the first day they arrived in India and visited a temple. As they were leaving, they encountered a young man who obviously had been stricken by polio. The members of the group made sure Covington understood she could not give the youngster money even though he was destitute and begging. “I was sobbing by the time I got to the bus. He was the first child we saw who was afflicted by the disease we were there to fight,” Covington recalled. “I told everyone that we couldn’t make a difference for that young boy but we could make sure no other child suffered from that deadly and totally preventable disease.” The youngest child Covington vaccinated in India was little more than two hours old. She said the trip was a life-changing experience. “I have never been more humble or proud to be a Rotarian,” declared Covington. “All the projects this club does make a difference. Every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes. I dare to dream of a polio-free world and I believe we can accomplish it.” While a single vaccination will immunize a child in America against polio, in countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria at least 10 vaccinations before the age of five years is needed because the disease is spread through poor sanitation and living conditions and consuming contaminated food or water. Covington pointed out that a single dose of oral polio vaccine costs 60 cents and every penny donated by Rotarians all over the world goes to manufacture or deliver the vaccine to people who need it. She also said since January 2008 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $355 million to the effort and challenged Rotary International to match $200 million of the grant. Attorney George Gabel, who was the Rotary Club of Jacksonville president when the international effort to eradicate the disease began in 1987 said, “I wasn’t sure we could succeed, but it’s great to see polio so close to being eradicated.” mmarbut@baileypub.com 356-2466
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