Rotary International leader from Dorset to protect children from polio in India

Part of global effort to eradicate polio worldwide

(London, 25 October 2007)  Joining thousands of volunteers in India, Rotary International leader Keith Barnard-Jones of Dorset will help immunize some 75 million children under the age of five against polio – a crippling and potentially fatal disease that is still endemic in four countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan). 

While in India, retired physician Barnard-Jones will meet with government officials and Rotary members during the 28 October mass immunization campaign.   “The government of India has demonstrated extraordinary political and financial commitment to ending polio, having contributed US$ 366.5 million to the goal,” said Barnard-Jones. “Rotary stands beside this effort and congratulates the central government, as well as the state governments that are working hard to stop polio.”

New methods and more effective oral polio vaccines have led to tremendous progress against polio in India this year.  Yet to date, India holds the highest number of polio cases of any single country this year, having reporting 304 cases so far in 2007.   Due to extensive flooding in the state of Bihar, campaigns were delayed for several days, hampering efforts to reach children.  Advance planning for flood-prone areas allowed for extra vaccination teams to respond to the situation during relief activities.  In addition to polio immunizations, de-worming tablets and Vitamin A supplements were offered to those affected by the floods.    

Barnard-Jones served as president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) 1996-97 after retiring from his post as senior partner of a general practice on the Island of Portland. He and his wife Judy, a nurse, both worked with the Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong in 1981. Barnard-Jones was also a Rotary medical volunteer in Sri Lanka early in 1999.

Whether knocking on doors during house-to-house campaigns or staffing immunization posts, India’s more than 90,000 Rotary members will be out in force during the multiple campaigns planned for this year.   

Rotary - a humanitarian service organization that has made polio eradication its top philanthropic goal – has contributed US$ 74.3 million to fight polio in India, and more than US$620 million toward eradicating polio worldwide.  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 during national immunization campaigns. 

A highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and sometimes death, polio still strikes children in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.  To date, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 children annually in the mid 1980s to approximately 2,000 cases all last year.   

Rotary International is the world’s first and one of the largest non-profit humanitarian service organizations.  It is comprised of 1.2 million business and professional leaders in nearly 170 countries.  Rotary members initiate community projects that address many of today’s most critical issues such as violence, AIDS, hunger, the environment and health care.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

For further information visit www.rotary.org, www.ribi.org or www.polioeradication.org

11/12/07