So what is Purple Pinkie?

 

When children are vaccinated against polio, they have a purple stamp put on one of their little fingers.  In this way the immunisation team knows who has been vaccinated.

Each Purple Pinkie brings us closer to making polio history.

Running a Purple Pinkie day is a great way to raise public awareness of the efforts being made to eradicate polio and to raise funds towards these efforts. 

Donate as little as 50p on a Purple Pinkie day - this pays for a single immunisation - and get a purple pinkie.  Tell people why your little finger is purple, and see if they will also contribute.  Simple, effective, purple.  :-)  

Purple Pinkie - Helping to rid the world of Polio 

Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal disease. Fortunately, although incurable, Polio is easy to prevent. A child can be vaccinated for just 50p, protecting the child against this terrible disease for life. Polio has no cure. Children under the age of five are at greatest risk. When a child is vaccinated, they have a purple stamp put on their little finger – giving them a Purple Pinkie.

Purple Pinkie Week is 20th February to 28th February 2010 and Purple Pinkie Rotary Day is Tuesday 23rd February, when Rotary clubs throughout the county will be raising money to help eradicate polio once and for all.

20 Years of Progress

 Polio Plus is a global partnership of Rotary, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Center for Disease Control. The campaign has been running for 20 years and the results are dramatic:-

 In 1988 Polio was endemic in 125 countries

But in 2008 only 1,173 new cases of Polio were reported and Polio is endemic in just four countries, namely Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria 

This is due to the massive immunisation programme of Polio Plus, which has protected more than two billion children from the disease. Without the programme, five million children would have been disabled by the disease and 250,000 children killed.

So the aim is to make one last push, to rid the world of Polio once and for all.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “The extraordinary dedication of Rotary members has played a critical role in bringing polio to the brink of eradication.

"Eradicating polio will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in history, and we are committed to helping reach that goal." So much so that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made a huge donation to Rotary to help with this final push. With your help, too, the world can finally see the end of polio because as long as polio threatens even one child, children everywhere are at risk. 

Through one of the world’s biggest immunisation programmes, Polio has been 99 per cent eradicated – so this is one last push to destroy the disease for good. 

The role of Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club

 Chelwood Bridge Rotary Club like all other Rotary Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland will be participating in a huge fund-raising initiative to help find the money to finish the job!  Clubs around the UK will be carrying out different activities to raise money and Chelwood Bridge will be holding a Bavarian “Oompah Night” on 20^th February at Conegre Hall Timsbury. It will be great fun and hopefully raise a lot of money too!! Tickets from Rob on 01275 331093. 

In a separate initiative, we will be contacting schools in the Chew Valley and neighbouring areas to ask them to take part in our own Purple Pinkies campaign . We have some helpful information kits, which can be used to help children understand the challenge and what is being done to meet it.  

Councillor Chris Watt, of BANES said, ‘The elimination of polio campaign would fit in well with school curricula and that head teachers may well see this an excellent educational project as well as an opportunity to raise funds for an international charity’. 

If your school has not yet been contacted and you would like more information, then please ring Richard Clarke on 01761 462505.