Thousands of students and shoppers are being urged to help end the war against polio as part of Purple Pinkie Week, supported by Rotary clubs across the whole of Essex and Hertfordshire.
Purple Pinkie Week, set up by the Rotary District 1240, was officially launched by The Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford, Lord Petre, the Lord Lieutenant of Essex and leading Rotarians on Monday 23rd – Rotary’s 104th birthday.
To gain public support for Rotary’s initiative to stamp out polio from the world for good, scores of Rotary clubs will be holding events throughout the week include fundraising activities at universities, painting the pinkies of shoppers and commuters in towns and railway stations, schools wearing something purple, collections outside supermarkets, quiz nights, council dress down days, and even a sponsored shave.
Every £1 raised from Purple Pinkie Week, which gets its name from the purple dye painted on a child’s little finger to show after they have been immunised, will purchase two doses of anti-polio vaccine.
Ken Buck, Rotary District Governor for the area, said: “Although there has not been a polio case in the United Kingdom for many years, the crippling and sometimes fatal disease is still a very harrowing reality for children in parts of Africa and Asia and threatens children everywhere.
“We are so close to stamping out polio. It is vital that we eradicate it now as otherwise the likelihood is that the disease will spread again to the countries which have been cleared. With the public’s help we can achieve this goal”.
For more information about Purple Pinkie Week, visit http://www.purplepinkie.com/.
Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985. Since then, polio cases have fallen from 350,000 a year to a recorded 1,600 last year. Thanks to Rotary’s help, two billion children have been protected from the disease, and the number of endemic countries has fallen from 125 to just four: Afghanistan, northern India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
It is estimated that five million children have been spared from disability and 250,000 deaths have been averted.
Rotary is the largest private sector contributor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with partners including the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rotary clubs worldwide have now taken up Rotary’s $200 million challenge – a drive to part match a multimillion challenge grant given to Rotary by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the organisation in its quest to wipe out polio for good. To find out how you can help, visit https://www.rotarygbi.org/foundation/polio
24/02/09
