India has had no new cases of polio since January last year, and that's largely thanks to the efforts of organisations like Rotary.
Dr Mathew Varghese’s was guest speaker at the District 9940 conference in Wanganui and was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow recognition by District 9940. District Governor Bob Smith said it had been wonderful to have Dr Varghese come to Wanganui to speak about his work. "Rotary has taken a keen interest in the prevention of polio, so it has been great to hear about it from someone on the front line."
Dr Mathew Varghese is currently Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at St Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi, India specialising in trauma care with particular emphasis on reconstructive surgery for trauma, poliomyelitis, cerebral palsy and paediatric problems. He spoke about his work with sufferers of polio and the $6000 presented to him at the conference by the clubs of the district to help with new equipment for the hospital and to continue his work with polio. He reminded the conference very much of the standing of Professor Swee Tan in our District for his work with children with strawberry birth marks. [Swee Tan is also a researcher with Cure Kids].
Polio, once common in New Zealand, is a water-borne virus that affects the spine of the sufferer and can cause paralysis and deformities. Starting in 1985, Rotary groups around the world began a fundraising drive to eliminate polio completely, and to date they have raised about $1 billion for vaccination programmes. Other charitable organisations have also donated considerable sums of money for polio prevention.
Dr Varghese said when he began working at St Stephen's Hospital in 1990, in Delhi alone there were about 3000 new cases of polio each year. Now polio has virtually been eliminated from India, thanks to a huge vaccination drive. Dr Varghese campaigned in the 1980s to have a nationwide vaccination programme introduced and, although it is a huge logistical task vaccinating every child in India under the age of five, his dream has now come true.
"I never thought to see it happen in my lifetime, but it is a reality. By any standards, it is a remarkable achievement," he said.
The only cases of polio Dr Varghese sees now are historical ones, where the sufferer has on-going problems from being infected years ago.
