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DEAR EDITOR:
After 35 years, polio has been cornered. We must finish the job.
Since 1988, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have reduced polio cases by 99.9% worldwide. The wild poliovirus is now circulating only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That's why we celebrate World Polio Day on Oct. 24.
For us it's deeply personal because we're polio survivors. We ask everyone to help end polio for good so this paralyzing disease does not return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk.
The World Health Organization estimates there are 15-plus million polio survivors worldwide, the majority of whom realize the permanent disability caused by the polio virus. Also, there are an estimated 1 million polio survivors in North America.
Throughout our state, we encourage pediatric vaccine acceptance and share factual vaccination information. Together we must continue the march toward global eradication and do our part to prevent polio outbreaks in our own communities. Few Americans realize polio paralyzed a 20-year-old man in New York last summer. One lesson learned during the polio epidemics is there are hundreds of asymptomatic poliovirus infections for each paralytic case, meaning many infected with polio were so mild they didn't know they had the virus. Just because someone had no or minor flu-like symptoms, showing no obvious weakness or paralysis, doesn't mean the poliovirus didn't do damage to neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Polio was eradicated in the U.S. in 1979, yet as a result of lack of vaccination, we have been added to this list of Outbreak Countries, along with Canada, Israel and the UK.
The safety and efficacy of the inactive Salk polio vaccine is well documented. It is the only vaccine given in the U.S. since 2000. As evidence in our neighboring state of New York, for those who have not been vaccinated, the time for action is now. We have an opportunity to make history by ending polio, making it the second disease in history to be eradicated through the use of vaccination.
Get involved. Donations can be made directly to the Rotary Foundation. For every dollar you donate, the Gates Foundation will turn it into three.
The PA Polio Survivors Network, managed by and for polio survivors, is in service to bring support and information to polio survivors, families, caregivers and health care providers. Please join us and become a part of the solution. If polio exists anywhere, it is a threat to children everywhere.
JOE RANDIG
Western Pennsylvania Coordinator, Butler County, Pa.
CAROL FERGUSON
Rotarian and Network Founder, Bucks County, Pa.
PA Polio Survivors Network