By Yussif Ibrahim
Obuasi (Ash), Aug. 03, GNA – The Rotary Club of Obuasi is collaborating with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to immunise children under five years in the Obuasi Municipal, Obuasi East and Akrofuom Districts against polio.
Ghana is seeking to stop local transmission of polio virus type 2 and has commenced a nationwide polio immunization campaign which started on September 1 and expected to end on September 4, 2022.
For more than 35 years, Rotary has been working with global health authorities to eradicate polio, achieving the goal in 2021 when Africa was declared polio free.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, they have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since their first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect 3 billion children in 122 countries from the paralyzing disease.
Also, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
At a programme to commence the exercise at Obuasi, Foundation Chair of Rotary Club of Obuasi, said the campaign against polio had always been supported by Rotary over the years.
“We at Rotary have been involved in Polio immunization campaigns over the years due to our commitment to improving the living conditions of our people. This year, while we are contributing to immunizing the children, we are also focused on educating the parents to take good care of their children and to also make their children available for this exercise,” he noted.
The Club’s involvement in the exercise formed part of its commitment to the health needs of the people, Abdul Mumin, a Former President of the Club, observed.
“As you may be aware Rotary Club of Obuasi has been part of similar health campaigns including Maternal and child health issues, disease prevention and treatment,” he said.
Mr. John Baffoe Yeboah, the Akrofuom District Health Director, urged parents to make their children available for the all-important exercise to collectively eliminate the disease in a country.
GNA