TO CREATE awareness and ultimately stop the spread of the polio virus in the country, the Rotary Club of Cebu is set to host its first ever 550-kilometer perimeter advocacy ride across Cebu on November 22 to 24, 2019.
Ride to End Polio Cebu 2019 aims to raise fund amounting to P2 million, either by direct lump sum donation, lump sum pledge, or pledge per kilometer, to support Rotary International’s End Polio-Program.
Poliomyelitis or polio, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is a highly infectious viral disease which mainly affects children.
The virus is transmitted person-to-person and spread mainly through the fecal-oral route. It can also spread through contaminated water or food.
Bernard Sia, former president of Rotary Club of Cebu, said mass vaccination for children five years old and below will also be conducted for the towns of Oslob, Tabuelan, Tabogon, Balamban, and Toledo City.
“This event shall be participated by Rotarians and non-Rotarians in the hope to increase vaccination rate to 95 percent (coverage considered to have herd immunization). This perimeter ride is inspired by the Ride to End Polio in Tucson, Arizona, USA,” he said.
To achieve the total ride distance of 550 kilometers (km), participants will have to traverse 200 km from Cebu to Moalboal via Samboan on the first day of the event; another 200 km on day 2 from Moalboal to Daanbantayan and another 150 km from Daanbantayan to Cebu via Tabogon on the last day.
Ruff Vincent Valdevieso, program coordinator of the immunization program at the DOH Central Visayas, said they target around 150 children per target municipalities for the said mass immunization.
Van Philip Baton, Department of Health Central Visayas medical program coordinator for infectious disease, said as of October 12, the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Central Visayas Center for Health Development, recorded a total of 25 acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).
AFP, as defined by WHO, is a sudden onset of paralysis/weakness in any part of the body of a child less than 15 years of age.
Among the 25 recorded cases in Central Visayas, 19 were discarded as non-polio while six are still pending for classification.