Civic group kicks off fight vs polio

THE Rotary Club of South Cagayan de Oro District 3870 has kicked off the fight against polio to raise awareness of the resurgence of the debilitating and deadly disease.

Over the weekend, the civic group initiated a Polio Walk to commemorate the World Polio Day on October 24.

Antonio Resma, president of the Rotary Club-South Cagayan de Oro, said the campaign is a regular activity of the group to save millions of children from polio since 1980s.

"We want to make parents and all of the families be aware that we have a vaccine for polio. It is available and the government provides it for free. Labina karon naay reemergence sa polio unya duol pa gyud sa ato

(Especially now that there is a reemergence of polio and it is near our area), so this campaign is very timely," Resma said.

A simultaneous mass polio vaccination in the city and other parts of the country is slated on November 24.

The city government has already created a task force on polio prevention in the city.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Poliomyelitis or polio is a highly infectious viral disease which affects mainly young children.

The virus can be transmitted through the fecal-oral route or by taking in contaminated food or water.

October 24 is World Polio Day, an event established by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio.

The use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph