World Polio Day - PDG Ron Pickford AM and PP Judy Pickford Gallery

Poliomyelitis, or better known as Polio, is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age.

Transmission can occur from person to person through contaminated food or water.

It can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.

Initiated by Rotary International, Polio Plus was launched in 1985 in a bid to eradicate the virus, collaborating with organsiations like the World Health Organisation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF and later joined by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative began, around 2.5 billion children in 122 countries have been immunised, reducing cases worldwide by 99%.

Of the three strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3) wild poliovirus type 2 and type 3 were eradicated in 1999 and 2020 respectively.

As of now, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries - Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a recent reemergence of the virus in Gaza, Palestine due to the ongoing conflict. 

Past DG Ron Pickford AM and Past President Judy Pickford were both involved in polio eradication efforts in Jodhpur and Bikenar in India.