Thanks to the development of a vaccine in the 1950s, polio hasn’t affected Canadian children for decades.
Many children in the developing world are not so lucky.
That’s why students in Flin Flon have been raising funds to keep the mission of eradicating polio moving forward.
Their effort comes in honour of World Polio Day (which took place Oct. 24) and with the support of the Rotary Club of Flin Flon.
At École McIsaac School and Hapnot Collegiate, student volunteers encouraged their teachers and peers to donate at least $1, which covers the cost of vaccinating one child in the developing world.
In many countries, when a polio vaccine is administered, the child’s finger is painted with a purple dye to prevent double dosage.
To symbolize the impact of each $1 donation, Flin Flon students painted donors’ pinky fingers with purple dye.
Once all donations are in, the impact of each dollar raised in Flin Flon will multiply through a fund-matching system, as Rotarian Tim Spencer explains.
“Once all the money is in from both schools and our club members’ contributions, we will remit the total amount to the [Rotary] district,” he notes. “They will then claim a matching grant from the federal government and forward the total amount to Rotary International, which will then get a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. So if we, for example, raise $1,000 it will turn into a $4,000 contribution to the worldwide polio eradication project.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio is endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and cases continue to arise in nine other countries.
Polio is a contagious infection that mainly affects children under five. Paralysis, and skeletal deformities are common complications, and there is no cure.
Rotary International has been leading an initiative to prevent polio infection through a worldwide immunization campaign launched in 1985.
Today, the initiative is backed by numerous national governments, the WHO, Unicef and major funders like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to a Rotary press release, the partners have achieved a 99 per cent reduction in polio cases worldwide since the 1980s.
In fact, the numbers show that polio could soon follow smallpox as one of the few diseases that could be completely eradicated.
Hapnot students will be visiting the uptown area next Thursday, Nov. 5 to paint pinkies and collect funds.
