Chatham-Kent residents who order a pizza on October 24 will be helping to eradicate polio worldwide.
The Rotary Clubs of Chatham will be partnering with several local pizzerias for a "Pizza for Polio" fundraiser. On World Polio Day, participating pizza places will donate a portion of sales to the Rotary’s PolioPlus program in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that affects children mainly under the age of five. Polio can cause paralysis and sometimes death. While there is no cure for polio, one vaccine can protect a child from the disease for life. Since 1985, Rotary has contributed $1.2-billion to the cause and has helped immunize more than two billion children in 122 countries.
Since 1988, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 a year to less than 200 cases in 2015. The Americas were declared free from polio in 1994, the Western Pacific region in 2000, and Europe in 2002.
Doug Goldsmith, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise, says even though there has been great strides made to reduce the amount of polio cases in the world, there is still a lot of funding needed to ensure the world remains polio-free.
"Even though we may be polio-free, we have to be polio-free for five years. We have to continue to give new babies the polio vaccine just so that it will continue for another five years and we can make sure the world remains polio-free," says Goldsmith.
However, a funding gap means that immunization campaigns are being cut in high-risk countries, leaving children more vulnerable to polio. Goldsmith says if something isn't done, the disease could make a comeback.
Goldsmith says about $1.5-billion is needed over the next five years to ensure these vaccination programs keep running and the disease is fully eradicated. So far, millions of dollars have been contributed to the campaign by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Government of Canada, and several other companies.
"Every little bit helps. With 1200 clubs throughout the world, we'll soon get to our campaign goal of just over $1-billion over the next five years," says Goldsmith.
Last year, Chatham Rotary clubs raised almost $3,200.
Pizzerias that have signed up so far include:
- Pizza Tonite
- Andy’s Place
- Mike’s Place Godfather’s Pizza
- Original 2 Pizza
- Boston Pizza
- Feo’z Pizza
- Qua Vadis Pizzeria
- Pie Zano’s
- Domino’s Pizza