Rotary Clubs Unite to Fight Polio

For 26 hours, Southern California residents united in the fight against polio. Gathering Saturday, Oct. 26 and walking through Sunday, Oct. 27 at San Bernardino’s Little League Western regional headquarters near the I-215 freeway, many participated in the first time walk-a-thon hosted by Rotary International Districts 5330 and 5300, which includes local Rotary Clubs within the Inland Empire, with the goal of raising awareness and funding in the fight against polio. The eventual goal is to eradicate the disease, which often strikes children under five, shared Rotary District 5330 member Thom Salisbury. “Polio is still out there, and it’s still affecting children. We want to make [polio] the second disease that has been completely wiped from the face of the earth,” said Salisbury. Rotary, a humanitarian service organization, now has almost 34,000 clubs worldwide. In 1985, Rotary committed to the fight against polio and has since contributed $1.2 billion to these efforts. According to the Wikipedia page on the disease, polio infections trace back prehistorically, though major polio epidemics were unknown until the turn of the 20th century. Localized paralytic polio epidemics began to appear in Europe and the United States around the 1890s; by 1907, approximately 25,000 cases of polio were reported in New York City. The disease reached its peak in the 1940s and ’50s, where it “would paralyze or kill over half a million people worldwide every year,” the Wikipedia page reads. Though the disease is no longer prominent in the United States, Salisbury said polio continues to be a disease that needs to be fought. “Polio in America is pretty much gone,” said Salisbury, “but the case-in-point in this is: in places like Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, it still exists. Just recently there was an outbreak in Somalia. Because polio still exists, it can pop up anywhere. As long as it is destroying the lives of children everywhere, something needs to be done.” If polio were eradicated, it would be only the third disease worldwide to be completely wiped out, following smallpox, the eradication of which was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 1980 (Wikipedia), and rinderpest, a viral disease which infected cattle and other ruminants, and was the first livestock disease to have been eradicated by human undertakings, declared October 2010 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (Wikipedia). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), polio is spread person-to-person and through sewage-contaminated water and food. It affects only humans. Complications include paralysis that can lead to permanent disability and death. According to the CDC, approximately 95 percent of individuals infected with polio will have no symptoms, while about 4 to 8 percent of infected persons will experience minor symptoms like fever, fatigue, nausea, headache and other flu-like systems, stiffness to the neck and back and pain in the limbs, “which often resolve completely,” according to the CDC website. Less than 1 percent of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs; the death rate increases with age, according to the CDC. Rotary leaders shared that while there is no known cure for polio at this time, children can be protected from the disease with oral vaccinations that cost as little as 60 cents. Visitors could walk in the event for a $10 registration fee, and all were encouraged to enjoy food and purchase opportunities to win prizes and raise money to continue the fight against polio. Highlights of the 26-hour event included entertainment by the Halfway Band and performances by comedian Eric Blake. Also on site during the event were Dan and Laura of A&E’s “Storage Wars,” who auctioned items in fundraising efforts Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon, polio survivors gathered on the field to walk in the Polio Survivors Walk. “There were about seven or eight survivors and their families,” said Salisbury, “and a bagpiper marching on the field with them. Most of these survivors are in their late 60s, so you have people living in America today who have family members who were dramatically affected by polio. These individuals are compassionate enough to not let this happen to children in other parts of the world.” A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation tripled all monies raised during the 26-hour walk event. Currently, shared Salisbury, it’s estimated that the weekend event raised $170,000, with monies still being finalized. With the grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a total of at least $510,000 was raised in the inaugural walk-a-thon.