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FOUNDATION The Rotary Foundation, the movement’s only
charity, celebrates its centenary this year, and
Update on Polio from Euan Eddie coinciding with this is a new Polio fundraising tool
called Purple4Polio.
The combined 1175 district has made a bigger
contribution to the Rotary Foundation than the .
two districts separately did. Contributions from
the Peninsular last year (2015-16) were Purple4Polio is the new fundraising tool for
$158,000, up by almost $7000 on the money put polio. Watch the video of its launch here:
in by Districts 1170 and 1290 in 2014.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t5Lu9zyWB0
According to District Foundation Chair Euan Eddie,
there have been only 19 new cased of polio More from Euan Eddie on
reported this year, but, if the last case were euaneddie@hotmail.com.
reported this year, then the immunisation Website: www.rotarygbi.org/what-we-
programme must continue for a further three do/purple4polio.
years after that before the world can be declared
polio free. Polio cases tend to be reported in the Stop press 12 August 2016
hot, summer months. So far this year, there have
been at least a dozen in Pakistan, with around six The World Health Organisation has confirmed that
reported in Afghanistan. By contrast, there were two cases of wild poliovirus type 1 have been
74 cases of Wild Polio Virus detected in the whole detected in north-eastern Nigeria, the first in the
of 2015. country since July 2014.
The number of vaccine-derived polio cases has Eve Conway: “This is disappointing news, but
dropped significantly. In future, however, the Rotarians are determined to keep up the fight
main effort will be to phase out the trivalent oral against polio and to reach our number one goal of
vaccine and introduce bivalent inoculations as the ridding the world of this crippling disease. We
main preventive immunisation. This will reduce shall continue our advocacy work and our efforts
the risk of vaccine-derived polio, but is more to raise awareness and funds to end polio now
expensive to produce and requires training. and forever”.
The Gates Foundation adds $2 for every $1
contributed to End Polio Now, and so the
combined District’s contributions, at current
exchange rates, were worth more than $171,000.
