Greek Rotary Volunteer Team Helped Immunize Children Against Polio in India

ATHENS, Greece - Part of Rotary’s global effort to end polio worldwide

Rotary club members from Athens and the island of Syros recently returned
from India, where they immunized children against polio — a disease that
still paralyzes and sometimes kills children in parts of Africa and Asia. The
22-member team was in India from February 10 - March 3.

These volunteers are members of Rotary, a worldwide humanitarian service
organization that has polio eradication as its main philanthropic goal.

Catherine Kotsali, a member of the Rotary club of Pendeli, said, “Until
polio is eradicated worldwide, every child remains at risk. Though we are
close to reaching our goal, we must continue our efforts until each and every
child is protected against the tragic consequences of this disease.”

The Rotary group worked with teams of volunteers as part of a mass
immunization campaign targeting millions of children under the age of five.
The volunteers administered the drops of oral polio vaccine to children in
remote villages, walking house-to-house to ensure that every child is
reached.

“We are committed to ending this disease and its cruel consequences once
and for all,” said Kotsali. “This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
stop this disease and end polio forever. We will work from dawn to dusk to
ensure that no child is missed.”

Tremendous progress has been made in India, where most polio cases have
been concentrated in two key states. Health officials agree that implementing
repeated, large-scale immunization efforts are key in stopping the
transmission of the disease.

A highly infectious disease, polio can cause paralysis and sometimes
death. As there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little
as US 60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this
crippling disease for life.

Rotary’s commitment to end polio represents the largest private-sector
support of a global health initiative ever. Since 1985, Rotary has
contributed more than US$800 million toward polio eradication. Rotary is
currently working to raise an additional US$200 million toward a US$355
challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting
US$555 million will fund polio eradication activities in the remaining
endemic and high-risk countries.

Besides raising and contributing funds, over one million men and women of
Rotary have volunteered their time and personal resources to help immunize
more than 2 billion children in 122 countries.

For photos of the Greek Rotarian trip to India, visit:
www.thenewsmarket.com/rotaryinternational. For further information visit:
rotary.org or polioeradication.org.

Source: Rotary International

Catherine Kotsali-Papadimitriou, Greek Rotarian Team Leader, +30-210-8030366, Mobile: +30-6944-411570, gekp at tee.gr, or Kiki Melonides, Rotary Media Relations, +1-847-866-3134, kiki.melonides at rotary.org, both of Rotary International