THE Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth West recently organised a beach clean-up to raise awareness of polio as part of the End Polio Now campaign in support of World Polio Day, which took place on October 24.
Polio is an intestinal virus that infects only humans, mainly children under the age of five, as they are least likely to be fully vaccinated. One in 200 polio infections leads to irreversible paralysis.
Rotary International, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are working tirelessly to #endpolionow. In 30 years, the number of polio-endemic countries has gone from 125 in 1988 to three in 2018.
About 17.4 million people who are currently healthy would have been paralysed by polio the without eradication efforts in play since 1988.
The Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth West volunteers met at Hobie Beach recently and were given two refuse bags, one to collect recycling goods and another for non-recyclable goods.
The teams covered the beach and grassed areas of Kings Beach, Hobie Beach and Pollock Beach and worked tirelessly to clean them.
