The Semiahmoo Rotary has donated nearly $3,000 for polio research as part of a world-wide effort to end the disease.
The Rotary’s contribution is a collaborated effort with Rotary groups around the world working to raise $200 million US to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The resulting $555 million will support immunization campaigns in developing countries where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, according to the Rotary website.
Polio is a viral disease that can affect nerves and can lead to partial or full paralysis. According to the World Health Organization, the disease mainly affects children under the age of five.
In 2011, only four countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic.
For more information about the Rotary’s work go to www.rotary.org/endpolio
- Black Press