[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 714

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

1. 1374: Past RI Director and Treasurer Ford dies From: Sunil K Zachariah 
  2. 1373: Oral polio vaccine remains tool of choice in eradication From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1374: Past RI Director and Treasurer Ford dies 
Sat Oct 13, 2007 5:55 pm (PST) 
Past RI Director and Treasurer Ford dies 

Past RI Director and Treasurer Luther Ford, of Bloomington, 
Minnesota, USA, died on 8 October at the age of 96.

He served as RI director in 1977-79 and treasurer in 1978-79. A 
Rotarian since 1946, Ford was a member of the Rotary Club of 
Minneapolis. He also served as district governor.

Ford was a partner in a Minneapolis bluing manufacturing company 
bearing his name. A past president of the Viking Council of the Boy 
Scouts of America, he was a director of the United Way of Minneapolis 
Area and chair of the Bloomington School Board. Ford was also a 
director of the Minneapolis Family and Children's Service.

A memorial service will be held at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, 
2200 W. Old Shakopee Rd., in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA, on 
Saturday, 3 November, at 6:00 p.m. The Rotary Club of Minneapolis 
will also honor Ford at its meeting on Friday, 26 October.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Education Foundation of 
Bloomington - Senior Scholarship Program, at Education Foundation of 
Bloomington, Community Education Campus, 2575 W. 88th St., 
Bloomington, MN 55431 USA.

Ford is survived by his son, Jim. Condolences may be sent to the 
family in care of Jim Ford at 3110 Alden Pond Lane, Eagan, MN 55121 
USA.

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary


 2. 1373: Oral polio vaccine remains tool of choice in eradication 
Sat Oct 13, 2007 5:55 pm (PST) 
Oral polio vaccine remains tool of choice in eradication

By Wayne Hearn 

Rotary and its spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication 
Initiative remain committed to reaching all children with the oral 
polio vaccine (OPV).

Experts with the World Health Organization (WHO) say a recently 
reported outbreak of vaccine-derived polio in northern Nigeria is an 
extremely rare occurrence that happens when the weakened form of the 
virus used in the oral vaccine mutates to a point where it regains 
its ability to spread and to paralyze children. Such outbreaks are 
most likely to occur in communities with low childhood immunization 
rates and poor sanitation, circumstances that give the virus more 
opportunities to mutate as it circulates among unprotected children.

"Some recent media reports have been misinterpreted as implying that 
oral polio vaccine has paralyzed 69 children in northern Nigeria," 
WHO says in a statement. "In fact, these children were paralyzed by a 
vaccine-derived poliovirus to which they were vulnerable because they 
were not sufficiently vaccinated."

"This is a reflection of low vaccine coverage in this part of 
Nigeria," explains Dr. David Heymann, WHO's representative of the 
director-general for polio eradication. He notes that of the children 
paralyzed, 60 were either unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated.

"The only solution is to step up our efforts to immunize all of 
Nigeria's children," says Robert S. Scott, chair of The Rotary 
Foundation Trustees and the International PolioPlus Committee. "It 
would be tragic if parents kept their children from receiving the 
vaccine based on unwarranted fears about its safety. OPV is the best, 
most effective weapon we have to fight our real enemy: the wild 
poliovirus."

According to WHO, "only OPV is proven to rapidly provide very high 
immunity in the (human) gut and stop polio transmission in a 
tropical, developing-country setting."

Nigeria is one of only four countries where spread of the wild 
poliovirus has not been stopped. Since the outbreak was identified in 
August 2006, four mass immunization campaigns have been completed, 
and more are scheduled.

Source: Rotary International
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

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