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Gibraltar marks World Polio Day

Photos by Johnny Bugeja

A walk from the Piazza to Casemates took place on Thursday, marking World Polio Day.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Gibraltar, money was also raised for the polio immunisation campaign, an initiative matched by Rotary Clubs worldwide.

The initiative also raised awareness on polio and put a spotlight on the importance of immunisation.

Eric Rowbottom, a local polio survivor, was at the initiative and underscored the importance of protection against polio.

“The vaccine is very important because polio is still active around the world,” he told the Chronicle.

“Polio is still there, so it’s highly important for people, especially children, to get immunised because it’s a horrible deadly disease.”

Mr Rowbottom also reflected on being invited to the initiative by Rotary.

“This is a very tough day for me because everybody is celebrating something that I've been affected with, this changed my life completely when I was eight years old, so this is not the person I was supposed to be,” he said.

“I'm really happy that clubs like Rotary have brought the issue up, people are talking, 99.9% of the population is immunized, so it's a positive thing for me, on one side it's positive.”

“On the other side, you know, memories and all that stuff, and it's about a lifetime for me.”

“I'm happy to be here, very privileged to be here, and for Rotary to invite me to this event because it's very important.”

He issued a plea to be aware of the dangers of polio as well as getting immunised.

“Please immunise, please immunise your children,” he said.

“Don't think that it's not going to happen to you, it can happen to you, we're all travelling, people travel around the world and it can be transmitted like the flu or Covid, and the person who has the disease doesn't know that they have because sometimes it doesn't have any symptoms.”

“So, it's best to have the inoculations, and you're safe and you won't have to go through what hundreds of thousands of people have gone through like myself.”

Ron Wagemakers, President of the Rotary Club of Gibraltar, underscored the importance of raising money towards the immunisation campaign.

“To end polio, we must stop transmission of the virus in the two countries where it remains endemic; Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.

“We must also keep all other countries polio-free until we’re certain it won’t resurface.”

He noted that some 18 million people today are walking who would have otherwise bee paralyzed by Portfolio.

Mr Wagemakers also said that if polio isn’t eradicated within 10 years, as many as 200,000 children could be paralyzed by it each year.

He said the aim of such initiatives are to improve lives, invest in the future, improve child health, save money, and make history.

The Moorish Castle will be lit purple on Thursday to mark World Polio Day.

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