Polio Plus
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Jamie Tripp continued the series on Rotary and its service to the community at home and abroad with an update on the progress of Polio Plus.
Jamie said Polio is a viral illness that is mostly asymptomatic. In other words, most people who get it get sick and think they've got a bad cold or something and get better. This is abortive or non paralytic polio. There is a digestive polio that can cause neurological damage and there is paralytic polio which is what we think of when we hear the word and which was the cause of the epidemics through the early 1900's.
In those days the iron lung was the treatment of last resort and it reduced pressure on the lungs and halted the spread of damage, but the damage that had been done was irreperable.
In 1979 Rotary began a 5 year plan to provide vaccine to 6,000,000 Phillipinos. The commitment was slowly expanded. The oral vaccine was adopted, which was not without problems because it can, in limited instances, cause polio itself. But the IV vaccine had no shelf life and the oral one could include other vaccines - thus the name Polio Plus.
In 1985 Rotary pledged 120 million to the program - the first time that an NGO took the lead role in a major public health role - and, with the UN, WHO and UNICEF actually raised more than twice that. Since then over 600 million has been spent.
Transmission had been interrupted in all but 6 countries - interrupted means no new cases reported in two years - but civil turmoil which drove refugees across borders and some lack of education saw the number rise to 15, though it has now dropped back to 10. Of course, even with 10 countries still reporting cases, the number of cases has dropped from over 200,00 per year to less than 1,000. In all of India last year there were only 30 cases.
No other Service group has done anything like this. The ongoing watch for new cases will fall to Rotary, especially those clubs in the affected areas, as well as the responsibility for administering vaccines to newbornes. Bill and Melinda Gates have matched 40 million in donations. Koffi Anan has praised the 'strength of co-operation'.
WHO is committed but their role is people, labratories and volunteers, not fundraising.
The last areas where cases are reported are very remote and the role for North American volunteers has declined - locals are needed to work in these spots.
Remoteness and confllict leading to refugees are the major threats to success now; religious prejudice seems to be declining.
In those days the iron lung was the treatment of last resort and it reduced pressure on the lungs and halted the spread of damage, but the damage that had been done was irreperable.
In 1979 Rotary began a 5 year plan to provide vaccine to 6,000,000 Phillipinos. The commitment was slowly expanded. The oral vaccine was adopted, which was not without problems because it can, in limited instances, cause polio itself. But the IV vaccine had no shelf life and the oral one could include other vaccines - thus the name Polio Plus.
In 1985 Rotary pledged 120 million to the program - the first time that an NGO took the lead role in a major public health role - and, with the UN, WHO and UNICEF actually raised more than twice that. Since then over 600 million has been spent.
Transmission had been interrupted in all but 6 countries - interrupted means no new cases reported in two years - but civil turmoil which drove refugees across borders and some lack of education saw the number rise to 15, though it has now dropped back to 10. Of course, even with 10 countries still reporting cases, the number of cases has dropped from over 200,00 per year to less than 1,000. In all of India last year there were only 30 cases.
No other Service group has done anything like this. The ongoing watch for new cases will fall to Rotary, especially those clubs in the affected areas, as well as the responsibility for administering vaccines to newbornes. Bill and Melinda Gates have matched 40 million in donations. Koffi Anan has praised the 'strength of co-operation'.
WHO is committed but their role is people, labratories and volunteers, not fundraising.
The last areas where cases are reported are very remote and the role for North American volunteers has declined - locals are needed to work in these spots.
Remoteness and confllict leading to refugees are the major threats to success now; religious prejudice seems to be declining.