Dudley Rotarians 'Walk a Mile to End Polio'
World Polio Day was on October 24, and members of Dudley Rotary marked the event with a sponsored “Walk a Mile for Polio” through Dudley town centre. In the High Street members met local MP Sonia Kumar, who chatted about the End Polio campaign with long standing Rotary members Colin Knipe and Dennis Walker. £80 was raised.
In 1985 Rotary International pledged to support the eradication of polio worldwide. At that time there were 350,000 new cases each year with 1,000 children being paralysed each day. It was found in 200 countries. Now it is endemic in only Pakistan and Afghanistan. This year so far only 13 new cases of wild polio have been recorded. Europe was declared polio free as recently as 2003.
Since 1985 Rotarians - of which there are currently 1.2million - have donated over three billon USD. Bill Gates has joined with Rotary for several years and donates 2 USD for every 1 USD Rotarians raise. Until polio is eradicated we are not safe. The virus has been found in London’s sewage.
Find out more about Dudley Rotary at @dudleyrotary on Facebook.
