HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE -- The dread of being crippled by polio was a very real nightmare for people in the 1950s, but that fear is no longer prevalent in the U.S. due to efforts by groups such as the Rotary Club of Hot Springs Village, which is fighting to make sure polio does not make a comeback.
Villager Fred Kalsbeek is the HSV Rotary Club's point person for the Rotary Foundation. He says this is a particularly critical time in the battle.
"The primary focus of the fight against polio is currently in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan where volunteers risk their lives to immunize children from this crippling disease," he said.
Rotary International, a humanitarian service organization, made polio eradication its top priority in 1985 by launching Polio Plus. By 1991, the last case of wild poliovirus was reported in the Americas.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Hot Springs Village Rotary Club and Rotary International's Polio Plus program. In those 30 years, local Rotarians and the Rotary Foundation have contributed more than $1 billion and logged countless volunteer hours to help immunize more than 2 billion children in 122 countries.
Although there are fewer cases in fewer places than ever before, the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria have never stopped transmission of the poliovirus. Health care workers immunizing children in those countries are considered threats and are sometimes killed. Still, Rotarians persevere. For as little as 60 cents worth of oral vaccine, a child can be protected from the disease for life.
Members of the Hot Springs Village Rotary Club stage fundraisers throughout the year for causes in the U.S. and around the world.
"Wars and the breakdown of civil government have put thousands of refugees fleeing these countries at even greater risk of disease, including polio. Polio is highly contagious, so the effort to immunize children in those parts of the world is important to all of us here at home as well. We live in a highly mobile world, so polio anywhere can quickly spread back into countries like America. The recent outbreak of measles in the U.S. could also happen with polio coming in from elsewhere. Therefore, our club is proud to pledge its support for Polio Plus, and help with the immunization of children worldwide," Kalsbeek said.
The Rotary Club of Hot Springs Village meets at 7 a.m. on Thursdays in the Fireside Dining Room at Good Sam's, 121 Cortez Road.
Local on 02/27/2015