Dunmow Rotary Club is joining other Rotarians around the country to raise funds and awareness of the End Polio Now campaign.

October 24 is World Polio Day, and since 1985 Rotarians from across the world have come together in a campaign to eradicate the disease - which causes paralysis and death, mainly in children.

All money raised for the cause by Rotary worldwide will be match funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who will donate two pounds for every pound raised.

In 1985, there were 1,000 new cases of polio every day across 125 countries. Rotary, led by one Rotarian in the Philippines, made a promise to the children of the world that it would help finance the vaccination programme, give hands-on voluntary service to implement the immunisation scheme and lobby governments for aid.

Progress has been made, but it has been a long, hard road. In 2014, India was declared non-endemic, and Nigeria has also been certified clear of new polio cases, which means the entire continent of Africa has no endemic countries.

To date Rotary has donated somewhere in the region of $2.1 billion. The two endemic countries remaining are Pakistan and Afghanistan, where numbers of cases are still thankfully very small - however Rotary is determined to continue the fight, as polio is just a plane ride away from being transmitted from one of the countries where the disease is still prevalent.

Despite the positive steps, in June this year the UK Health Security Agency discovered the poliovirus in sewage works in Beckton, East London. Scientists believe the virus originated from someone who was immunised abroad with the live oral polio vaccine, which has not been used in Britain since 2004.

There have also been similar scares in New York, as well as actual cases of polio in Malawi and Mozambique.

Vaccination coverage in the UK has dropped in recent years, partly due to the Covid restrictions, to 92.6 per cent for children aged one. The teenage booster given at the age of 14 has fallen further to a low of 71 per cent.

This is now being addressed as a matter of urgency along with other childhood vaccinations which cover diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis and measles.

The Rotary End Polio Now campaign hopes to eradicate the disease once and for all.

Dunmow residents can help by joining or donating to the Rotary Club's Walk a Mile for Polio. The walk does not need to be completed on October 24 - but can be done at your leisure any time. For entry forms email dunmow.rotary@gmail.com.

The Rotary Club of Dunmow has also recently added a satellite club in Takeley.

The new club's charter night was held at Bretts Farm restaurant and hosted by Dunmow Rotary president Peter Watson. The event was also attended by Mayor of Great Dunmow Cllr Patrick Lavelle and Thomas Mulligan of Athlone Rotary.

Rotarians also held a foodbank collection around Dunmow earlier this month, which amassed a van load of food and hygiene items to help those in need.