We gave a warm Daybreak welcome to our own member, Past District Governor ANDREW SUGGETT.
On Wednesday October 11th Andrew was named Victorian Senior of the Year for 2023. The function was held at Government house in Melbourne on a beautiful sunny day. There were a total of 19 Awardees for various categories, and Andrew received the big one.
At our October 18th meeting, 21 Daybreakers took part in a power point presentation that past president Stephen Bellamy put together, this was well received and all present participated in the discussion points. PP Janey Preston took notes and collated the points selected by members, Myself as President will now submit Warrnambool Daybreaks choice prior 29th October.
We welcomed back Mehul Patel from his trip to England and the Netherlands with his Family, While in the Netherlands, Mehul was able to catch up with an old school friend he hadn’t seen for 25 years.
We are always looking for guest speakers at our meetings , so please pass on any contact details to our Program Coordinator PP Sandra.
Followed on with a cook sausage, Ian Harper, Glenn Rundell and Sergio Bacchetti jumped in to help out Andrew Suggett with the annual Parkinson Walk sausage sizzle, these are well received by the participants after the walk.
The boys were too busy to take a photo for us. However I heard that Sandra Batten was out for a walk herself and jumped in to help out the boys as they struggled to keep up with the demand.
Ride to Work Day: October 18th:
Thanks to Glenn for organising this with TAFE. Other helpers on the morning were Geoff Grec, Sergio Bacchetti, and Ian Harper. Pancakes, Coffee and Orange Juice was the choice, The weather was kind, Our club got great exposure with the marquee, left over items were taken to Food Share, so there were winners all round. Thanks boys.
As World Polio Day approaches, we need your help to amplify our message about eradicating polio to protect the world’s children from a devastating disease.
We have made tremendous progress since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched:
A 99.9% reduction in cases of illness caused by wild poliovirus
3 billion children immunized
125 countries where polio was endemic reduced to two — Afghanistan and Pakistan — with the virus contained in just a few districts and provinces
But even just one case still represents one child’s life forever changed by polio. That’s why Rotary members must remain tenacious and keep our promise: We won’t stop until we know thatno childwill ever again experience the paralyzing effects of polio.
WHAT IS THE PLUS IN POLIOPLUS?
PDG MURRAY VERSO, END POLIO NOW COORDINATOR — OCT 12, 2023
Have you ever wondered what the “plus’ in PolioPlus stands for and how the term came about? When we talk about PolioPlus, we know we are eradicating polio, but what additional benefits does the program bring?
Article by PDG Murray Verso, End Polio Now Coordinator
Health worker Falmata Mustapha rides a hand-operated tricycle, donated to her by Rotary’s Nigeria PolioPlus Committee, for door-to-door campaigns. — Image by: RI
On February 1985, Rotary’s 80th birthday, RI President Carlos Canesco, announced to the incoming district governors training for their year ahead in Nashville, Tennessee, that the World Health Organization had endorsed Rotary’s bold plan for an effective Sabin style polio program. Rotary’s “Polio 2005” commitment was to eradicate polio worldwide by the time of its 100th birthday in 2005. However, a few months later, it was decided to eliminate the reference to 2005 – which might denote a lack of urgency - and to add “plus” to reflect the inclusion of other health conditions, as well as polio, in the program. The Polio 2005 program became PolioPlus – To Immunize the Children of the World.
The “plus” provided as a part of the polio eradication campaign varies from one area to another depending on what is seen as a need. It might be additional medical treatment, bed nets to prevent malaria, or soap, access to clean water or education to improve hygiene. The poliovirus spreads through human waste, so making sure people aren’t drinking or bathing in contaminated water is critical to eradicating the disease.
A 2010 study estimated that the dual administration of vitamin A and polio vaccine had prevented 1.25 million deaths by decreasing susceptibility to infectious diseases. Vitamin A is essential for the functioning of the immune system and the healthy growth and development of children. It is usually acquired through a healthy diet. Yet, vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness and increases the risk of death from common childhood infections, such as measles and gastroenteritis. Vitamin A deficiency affects about one in three children in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. A lack of vitamin A also impairs the effectiveness of oral polio vaccine. For these reasons vitamin A drops are now given at the same time as the polio drops.
The health workers involved in the polio immunization, surveillance, and outbreak responses have used their skills in disease outbreaks such as:
During an outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria in 2014, health workers prevented that disease from spreading beyond 19 reported cases by using methods developed for the polio eradication campaign to find anyone who might have come in contact with an infected person.
During a 2018 yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria, the polio health workers vaccinated 8 million people against that disease.
For several months in 2020, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative suspended polio immunization activities and reduced its polo surveillance work to enable Covid-19 surveillance work, and to educate communities in Covid prevention strategies such a s social distancing and hand hygiene.
Over the years, health workers and volunteers supported by PolioPlus grants have built an infrastructure for delivering health care that, in many parts of the world, didn’t exist before. The legacy of PolioPlus is more than eradicating a deadly disease from the planet — it’s also building a stronger health system that provides better access to lifesaving interventions for the world’s most vulnerable children.
Rotary Club of Cobden have organised this great idea for a fundraiser social night. Friday October 27th. Let have some fun and raise some money as well for “Say No to Domestic and Family Violence.”
Let’s get together and ……..Create Hope in the World
