Walk to End Polio being held in South Lake Tahoe

Everyone in the community is invited to Walk to End Polio, a 3k event being held in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Join Rotarians, non-Rotarians, young and old, locals and visitors on a 3K walk to raise awareness, and funds, to end Polio.

If you were around in the middle of the 20th century, you may remember that tens of thousands of Americans were stricken by poliomyelitis, also known as Polio. This disease attacks the central nervous system and often leaves its victims partially or fully paralyzed.

The hallmarks of the Polio Era were children on crutches and in iron lungs, shuttered swimming pools, theaters warning moviegoers to not sit too close to one another.

On April 12, 1955, Jonas Salk developed a vaccine that prevented the disease and eventually led to its remarkable decline. The introduction of that vaccine in 60 years ago today was one of the biggest medical advances in American history.

While the disease is gone from America, that isn't the case around the world and an event in South Lake Tahoe will help the final eradication.

The registration fee is just $15 (click here to sign up). If you register for the walk by May 1 you'll receive a commemorative T-Shirt. The 9 a.m. walk, which starts at Harvey's, is being sponsored by Big George Ventures.

The Lake Tahoe Walk To End Polio is part of the Rotary District 5190 Conference at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe from May 14-17 that will bring more than 600 visitors to South Lake Tahoe. Rotary District 5190 consists of 58 Rotary Clubs in Northern Nevada and Northeastern California spread out over 80,000 square miles. The Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe are hosting the District 5190 Conference.

More than one million Rotarians have donated their time and personal resources to lead the way to eradicate polio. Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $9 billion to the effort.

Today, there are only three countries that have never stopped transmission of the wild polio virus (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan). Less than 370 polio cases were confirmed worldwide in 2014, which is a reduction of more than 99 percent since the 1980s, when the world saw about 1,000 cases per day. The polio cases represented by the remaining one percent are the most difficult to prevent, due to factors including geographical isolation, poor public infrastructure, armed conflict and cultural barriers. Until polio is eradicated, all countries remain at risk of outbreaks.

For more information on Polio, click here to visit the event website, www.tahoepoliowalk.com or on www.rotary.org.