World Polio Week in New Tecumseth - the week of Oct 21st
World Polio Week is declared in New Tecumseth for Oct 21- 28, 2013.
End Polio Now Flag raising at New Tecumseth Office on October 21, 2013.
Mayor Mike MacEachern, Deputy Mayor Rick Milne, Rotarians Joan Hayward, Punnapa Hartley, Ralph Jones, Patricia Middlebrook, Herb Oliver and Councillor Paul Whiteside helped raise the flag.
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Click the link to read Joan Hayward's remarks from the flag raising ceremony.
Welcome everyone. On behalf of President Mike Barzo and the members of the Rotary Club of Alliston I thank you for participating this morning.
I wonder how many of us know what “crab kids” are…those children whose legs have been paralyzed by polio and have no access to prosthetics. Thus they propel themselves on their bums using their hands and arms. How productive can their lives ever be? How can they make a meaningful contribution to the society in which they live? Yet they are happy because they are alive.
We in Canada, and indeed in New Tecumseth, don’t really have to worry about the polio virus and our children being stricken by it. Most are immunized as a regular part of their health care. Indeed immunization is a prerequisite for school attendance. However, without this protection even our children are at risk as long as the polio virus is alive and well and living somewhere.
The Town of New Tecumseth has declared this week as World Polio Week. The End Polio Now flag will be flown until October 28th to coincide with Rotary International’s World Polio Day on October 24th.
Rotary helped launch the polio eradication initiative in 1988, along with spearheading partners the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, new polio cases have plunged by more than 99 percent worldwide, from 350,000 cases annually to just 223 in 2012. Only three countries remain polio-endemic: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. India has been polio-free for two years now. This has been possible only because of the tremendous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and governments around the world, including our own. These organizations share Rotary’s vision of a polio-free world where “crab kids” will no longer populate the streets and where people will live long and productive lives instead of having no hope for a fulfilling future.
The most recent news is that Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced an extension of their existing fundraising partnership. Under the new agreement the Gates Foundation will match 2 for 1 every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication up to $35 million per year through 2018.
To date, Rotary clubs worldwide have contributed $1.2 billion to the polio eradication effort, this in addition to the thousands of hours of volunteer labour in preparation for and participation in national immunization days.
“We’re at a critical point in the fight to end polio,” said Past Rotary Vice President John Germ, who leads the organization’s fundraising efforts for polio eradication. “We must capitalize on this progress to finish the job. We have a robust plan, the tools to reach each child, and with funding in place, we can win against this devastating disease. Rotary and its partners remain committed to a polio-free world.”
We fly the flag in New Tecumseth to show our continuing commitment to keeping a promise Rotary made to the children of the world to get rid of polio. We will keep that promise. We are this close.