Rotary Urges More Enlightenment On Polio Eradication

Rotary Club of Port Harcourt North, Rotary International (RI) District 9140, Nigeria, says total eradication of Polio-melytis can only be achieved through public enlightenment and education.

Speaking after a rally to mark this year’s World Polio Free Day, the coordinator, Kick Polio Out, of the Club, Dr. Chijioke Mebelu, expressed the need for stakeholders to take the campaign against polio to the grassroots to educate them on the importance of immunisation against the virus.

Dr. Mebelu stated that only Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Nigeria still record cases of the Polio virus, noting that Nigeria has the worst cases, as all three types of the virus have been found in the country.

He lamented that cases of new infections were found mostly in northern Nigeria, saying that people in those countries were less receptive of the vaccine, which he said compound the problems of the campaign against polio.

According to him, “last week we recorded three more cases of Polio virus making it a total of 27 in Nigeria and those three were recorded in the North”.

He added that, “we have passed the campaign to the traditional rulers, to the emirs, to the Sultan, to talk to them to educate them so that they can bring out their children to be immunised. The essence of what we are  doing is education, if people are not educated, they won’t know what to do”.

Also speaking, the Assistant governor RI District 9140, Nigeria, Mr. Philip Mebradu, noted that the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt North, had embarked on advocacy work this year in order to create awareness and the importance of immunisation against Polio, which he said was the essence of this year’s World Polio Free Day celebration.

He said October 24th every year is declared World Polio Free Day and Rotary celebrates it as a way of reaching within to embrace humanity, which he said was Rotary’s theme for 2011.

In his remarks, the President of the Club, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbonda, stated that Rotary and government could not win the fight against Polio alone, hence, the involvement of youths and school children, whom he said were in close contact with their parents and guardians, noting that they would also help spread the information.