It costs only 60 cents to vaccinate one child and protect them from polio, a crippling disease that mostly attacks children under the age of 5, said Harriett Schloer. Schloer, a long-time Rotarian with husband Walt, told Rotarians about the latest End-Polio-Now campaign. She came to the Greater Corvalllis Rotary Club meeting on Friday, April 6, complete with an old iron lung that she and her husband transport from meeting to meeting.
The iron lung — an extinct piece of medical equipment — is a constant reminder of our goal to eradicate this disease, explained Schloer.
Polio is 99 percent on the way to being eradicated. “Actually, 99.8 percent,” said Schloer. The disease cripples children and resides in only three countries — Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. “To reach the final one percent of children is the most difficult because polio still exists in some of the most challenging parts of Africa and South Asia.
Schloer told stories of youngsters saving their change to help this cause. She challenged every Rotarian to add 60 cents to the change jar she brought to Friday’s meeting.
For more information about Rotary’s fight to eradicate polio, visit http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/donate.aspx.
