The Broken Bow Area Rotary Club will join Rotary clubs across the country Saturday, October 24, for a coordinated walk to raise awareness and support for the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.
The local event will take place at the Broken Bow High School track, with registration beginning at 8:30 AM and the walk starting at 9 AM. Broken Bow Area Rotary member Phil Sloat says the effort comes as the world gets closer to eliminating the disease.
Sloat says Rotary’s work to fight polio began in the 1980s, and international vaccination efforts have reduced polio worldwide by 99.9 percent. However, wild poliovirus continues to circulate in small areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“We’re so close. It’s one of those things where we’ve spent billions of dollars literally, and we’ve had partnerships with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, amongst others, and the World Health Organization. So it’s been a real team effort around the world to make this happen. But the Rotary really has taken a lead in it. But we’re just so close,” said Sloat.
The family friendly walk will include music and refreshments, and donations will be welcome to support continued polio eradication efforts. Participants are encouraged to wear Rotary gear or purple.
For more information, Sloat can be reached at 308-383-2512.
Listen to our full conversation with Phil Sloat here:
