WORLD POLIO DAY
World Polio Day – October 24
World Polio Day is commemorated on October 24th every year commemorating the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. The day is dedicated to creating awareness about the disease and supporting all initiatives to prevent it, highlighting the global efforts to end poliomyelitis across the globe. Vaccination is the best way to provide immunity from the virus, and this day reminds us of the important role that polio vaccines play in protecting lives and safeguarding public health around the world.
Resources
World Polio Day 2023
World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24 yearly to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk who developed one of the effective vaccines against poliomyelitis. Setting aside a day for polio provides an opportunity to raise awareness and resources to battle the disease. Poliomyelitis called polio in short is caused by the polioviruses. It can be life threatening and may lead to paralysis and disability. There is no treatment for polio but effective vaccines are available to prevent the disease. With the advent of the vaccination campaigns, polio has been eliminated in some regions of the world. Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the two countries with continued transmission of the Wild Polio Viruses while sub-Saharan Africa are mainly affected by the circulation of the vaccine derived polio viruses due to poor immunization coverage.
The Importance of Polio Vaccination to Protect Every Child and Celebrate the Efforts in Achieving Polio Eradication
World Polio Day is commemorated on October 24th every year to raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination to protect every child from this disease and to celebrate the efforts of professionals, volunteers, and parents to achieve polio eradication.