Like millions of people, I spent post Christmas lunch with the family. It was great to tune into the BBC’s Call the Midwife at 8pm and see a popular programme cover the horrors of a Polio epidemic in a realistic, contemporary and sensitive way. It was a welcome reminder of the Polio eradication programme that continues abroad and of the 120,000 people in Britain still living with Post Polio Syndrome (PPS) today. At home and abroad, 2017 is going to be pivotal in the ongoing battle to beat Polio and PPS.
With Polio endemic in just two countries, the End Polio Now campaign can count on our ongoing backing but the British Polio Fellowship continues to focus on members of the public living with PPS and in need of our support. Call the Midwife rightly depicts the Polio epidemics of the 50’s; the Dickensian conditions of post war Britain and the Christmas special set in 1962 South Africa accurately portrays the extension of the Polio eradication programme. Sadly, many children unfortunate enough to contract Polio then face the perils of PPS today, and like TV Series Highlights Battle to Beat Polio the ghost of Christmas Past, PPS has established itself as the unwelcome footnote of Polio UK.
While there is no cure for PPS, there is much we can do to alleviate the symptoms if properly managed and the British Polio Fellowship continues to raise awareness and offer support to those who continue to be affected by it. For more information on Polio, the late effects of Polio and PPS call British Polio on 0800 043 1935 or www. BritishPolio.org.uk Ted Hill MBE CEO, The British Polio Fellowship. Editor: Rotary International initiated Polio Eradication in 1985 with clubs throughout the world, including Newton Aycliffe, contributing £millions to the campaign.
