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The Rotary club of Southampton, Saugeen Shores is about to begin the
'Purple Pinky Project' in recognition of those throughout the world
being innoculated against polio.
Many of a certain age in North American still remember the fear
surrounding polio.
Polio epidemics caused panic each summer in the 1940s and '50s
throughout the U.S., Canada and Western Europe. People affected with
respiratory muscle polio were completely immobilized inside huge metal
cylinders known as 'iron lungs'. The worked like a pair of huge bellows
that pumped air in and out of the body and, even today, it is still
being used in some countries. Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands
of children every year in industrialized countries. Soon after the
introduction of effective vaccines in the late 1950s (IPV) and early
1960s (OPV), polio was brought under control, and practically eliminated
as a public health problem in industrialized countries.
Children whose legs are paralysed by polio often require crutches,
special braces or wheelchairs in order to move around. Itzhak Perlman,
the world's greatest living violionist, contracted polio at the age of
four. Although he made a good recovery, learning to walk with
crutches,today as an adult, he still uses crutches or an Amigo POV/Scooter
for mobility and must play the violin while seated.
Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands of children each year in
industrialized countries but, after the introduction of effective
vaccines in the late 1950s (IPV) and early 1960s (OPV), polio was not
only brought under control, but was almost eliminated as a public health
problem in industrialized countries.
Unfortunately, it took longer for polio to be recognised as a major
problem in developing countries. It wasn't until the 1970s that is was
revealed that the disease was also frequent in developing countries,
crippling thousands of children every year. As a result, during the
1970s, routine immunization with OPV as part of national immunization
programmes (Expanded Programme on Immunization, or EPI programmes) was
introduced worldwide, helping to control the disease in many developing
countries. (next column)
13/03/2009 10:37 PM
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Although the last known case of polio in the Western
hemisphere was reported in 1991 and there has not been a case in Western
Asia since 1997, polio is still rampant in South Asia, West Africa, and
Central Africa. India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan are now the
only countries in the world where polio is still classed as endemic and
approximately 5,000 cases are diagnosed each year.
Today, those being vaccinated in developing countries are numerous and,
when an innoculation is undertaken, medical staff can have a difficult
time keeping track.
Therefore, they have begun dipping the little
(baby/pinky) finger of each innoculated child in gentian violet. The
violet/purple tint, dyes the finger of the innoculated child ensuring
that medical staff can immediately detect who has been innoculated and
who has not. The whole process has become known as the 'Purple Pinky
Project'.
This 'Purple Pinky Project' is in recognition and empathy of those who
are being innoculated against polio but, more importantly, in developed
countries it has become a fundraising opportunity to raise monies to
help support the vaccination program. The project focuses on children
donating small amounts in the form of coins. It's about children helping
children and learning a lesson that not everyone is as fortunate in
life.
The first "Purple Pinky" project in Bruce County is going to be
sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Southampton and Port Elgin and will
take place at the upcoming Home and Garden Show to be held in the spring
at The Plex in Port Elgin. Children will be asked to drop a donation
coin in the jar and, in return, will received a 'Purple Pinky' in
recognition of their support.
According to sources, the service clubs have attempted to initiate the
"Purple Pinky" project in local schools in order to raise awareness of
the once-rampant disease and to instill in young students the value of
helping others. The Bluewater School Board of Education has however,
rejected the program.
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