October 24 – World Polio Day.  Rotary Club of Pisgah Forest has lots planned for this day to mark all that has been done and how close the world is to eradication of this disease.Here’s the Press Release from the club:

World Polio Day Is Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Pisgah Forest Rotary Club will observe World Polio Day with a Purple Pinkie awareness event in downtown Brevard.  This local event joins other events sponsored by Rotary clubs around the world to highlight the importance of eradicating this terrible disease.

When at risk children overseas are immunized against polio, their pinkie is dipped in purple ink to show they have been immunized.  Club members will be downtown offering purple pinkie cookies and marking pinkie fingernails with purple pens to indicate immunization.

Polio still threatens people, especially children under five.  It is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease.  The virus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours.  Polio can be prevented by immunization.  It is not curable once you have it, but it can be eradicated.

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative more than thirty years ago, polio paralyzed 1,000 children every day.  We’ve made great progress against the disease since then.  Polio cases have dropped from 350,000 cases in 125 countries in 1988 to 33 cases in just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in 2018.

With polio nearly eradicated, Rotary and its partners must sustain this progress and continue to reach and immunize every child in the world.  Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk.

Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total yearly contribution of $150 million.

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who take action to create lasting change in communities around the globe.  For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to improve lives through service.  From promoting literacy and peace to providing clean water and improving health care, Rotary members are always working to better the world.  Visit endpolio.org to learn more about Rotary and the fight to eradicate polio.  Visit us on or at pisgahforestrotary.org.