⇒ World Polio Day is observed every year on 24 October.
World Polio Day was initiated by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
Theme:
The theme of World Polio Day 2021 was ‘Delivering on a Promise’.
Global Polio Eradication Initiative:
Use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine and live oral poliovirus vaccine led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.
That is a public-private partnership includes Rotary, the World Health Organisation, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and governments of the countries.
About Polio:
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children (under five years of age).
The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (eg. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can enter the nervous system and can cause paralysis.