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Town Hall will glow purple for polio
23/10/2024
Polio has been eradicated in all but two countries
Banbury Town Hall will be illuminated in purple over the next couple of evenings to mark World Polio Day, which is tomorrow (Thursday).
Its a day when Rotary Clubs and healthcare professionals highlight their fight to end polio with Banbury Rotary Club part of the international ‘Purple for Polio’ campaign.
Since the campaign began in 1979 it has played a pivotal role in wiping out the infectious disease in all but two countries. From the start Rotary funded a Polio immunisation programme and in 1985 committed to lead a worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease. Back then Polio was endemic in 125 countries and over 1,000 children were paralysed worldwide everyday.
The colour purple is synonymous with the campaign as Banbury Rotary Club chairman Charles Hughes explained: “Purple is the colour of the dye that is used in developing countries to mark the little fingers of those who have been vaccinated. It has been adopted as the colour of the ongoing initiative to wipe out polio around the world and to make sure the disease doesn’t return.”
Donations to the Purple for Polio campaign can be made on the club’s website, where they also have information about the work they undertake both locally and internationally.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam