Northumberland News
Sunday, September 01, 2013
One dollar turns into three in a fundraiser for polio eradication this fall.
 Rotary polio plus mum sales-Karen Longwell / Northumberland NewsCOBOURG --
Bill Patchett, left, and Dr. Bob Scott with the Rotary Club of Cobourg,
are selling mums outside the Avid Reader on Division Street as a
fundraiser to eradicate polio. The mums will be for sale until
Thanksgiving. Aug. 27, 2013.
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A sale of mums outside the Avid Reader
bookstore at 513 Division St. in Cobourg will benefit Rotary’s work to
eradicate polio, said Bill Patchett with the Rotary Club of Cobourg.
From now until Thanksgiving the mums will be on sale and for every $1
raised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $2 to the
cause, said Mr. Patchett. Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly
infectious disease caused by a virus that spreads from person to person,
invading the brain and spinal cord. Cobourg Rotarian Dr. Bob Scott
travels the world working to eradicate polio. This fall he will head to
Pakistan with plans to meet with the prime minister and president, he
said.
Polio fast facts:
• Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio worldwide started in 1979.
• In 1988 there were 125 polio endemic
countries. Today polio remains endemic in three countries: Afghanistan,
Nigeria and Pakistan.
• A large outbreak of polio in Somalia has
climbed to more than 100 cases and is believed to have come from
Nigeria.
• Rotary recently gave $500,000 for a rapid response for Somalia.
• There have been no cases of type 3 polio
for 11 months, and none of type 2 since 1999, but efforts are still
focused on type 1.
• For as little as 60 cents a child can be protected against the virus for life.