ROTARY clubs across Bridport are continuing to campaign for the eradication of polio.

The Rotary Clubs of Bridport and Brit Valley will celebrate another step towards a polio-free world on Saturday October 24 – World Polio Day.

Members from both clubs will be urging the community to follow their lead and join the fight against the life-threatening disease.

On both Wednesday, October 21 and on the Saturday, rotary members will be collecting funds and selling purple crocus buttonholes to raise money for their cause.

In addition to this, the Bridport Town Hall clock will be turning purple for the week to represent the campaign to fight polio and to show support for the Purple4Polio initiative.

When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year.

Since then, great progress has been made in the battle against the disease. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 per cent, with only two countries still report cases of wild poliovirus, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that Africa was officially rid of the disease. Polio once paralysed around 75,000 children a year across Africa.

Rotary remains committed to the cause, wanting to see it out to the end with polio nearly eradicated.

Rotary are asking supporters for funds in order to sustain this progress and continue to reach every child with the polio vaccine. They have warned that without funding and political commitment, this paralysing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk.

Rotary has committed to raising $50 million USD each year to support global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, making a total yearly contribution of $150 million.

Working with the World Health Organisation, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has developed an interim strategy to continue working towards eradication during the COVID pandemic.

Those who wish to support the local Rotary Clubs in their charitable initiatives should contact the clubs via their respective websites or email secretary@bridportrotary.org.uk