The only place polio should exist is in the history books.
That’s the battle cry on World Polio Day – and the reason Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago and the city government of San Fernando (P) join the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign.
As part of the world wide event on October 24, Mayor EdSa welcomed participants from the Rotary Club International to raise awareness in this crippling childhood disease.
“Today is World Polio Day, and we encourage everyone to tell everyone that we can end polio and save our children” said Mayor EdSa.
He underscored that the city government is giving free polio vaccines in its Rural Health Units.
City Health Officer Dr. Eloisa Aquino, for her part, said that “for 16 years the LGU remains polio-free-city and there were no records of the disease among its constituents.”
“Libre po ang bakuna sa polio, kailangan lang pong makipag-ugnayan sa pinakamalapit na Rural Health Units o Barangay Health Stations” she added.
Rotary Club International representatives explained that since 1985, nearly $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours were rendered to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries.
Locally, Rotarians donate personally to the End Polio Now campaign through The Rotary Foundation.
Now, the disease remains endemic in three countries — Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan — although other countries remain at risk for imported cases.