The 2024 End Polio Charity Walk & Run is slated to take place on October 20 in the Hac Sa Reservoir Natural Park in Coloane, aiming to raise funds to support Rotary International’s efforts in eradicating the disease worldwide.
Marking its third edition in Macau, details were announced during a press conference at the Ilha Verde Secondary School of the Macau Chamber of Commerce by Macau’s eight Rotary clubs, which is organising the event.
A statement provided by the organisers yesterday noted that polio (poliomyelitis) is a paralysing and potentially fatal infectious disease that most often afflicts children aged under five. It spreads from person to person, usually through contaminated water.
Rotary is a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since its first immunisation project in the Philippines in 1979, the statement said. Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years, one of a 10-month-old boy who is paralysed in one leg, which is “alarming”, the organisers noted.
International District 3450 – Assistant Governor Elvo Sou (蘇桂龍) told reporters he believed that this “is a situation that the entire humanity needs to pay attention to”.
The funds and proceeds raised will be used to purchase vaccines to help people in need in areas affected by the disease, with hopes that it can reach as many children and students as possible. Sou noted that every [US] dollar raised will be matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Each dollar that we raise, the Bill Gates Foundation will match it with US$2 as well”
Sou added he hopes that awareness of and donations by the local community will be raised through the activity. “By supporting our event locally from Macau, we can make a global contribution together”, he said.
Participants can either join an 8km charity run or a 3km charity walk, Sou told the Post. According to the statement, the organisers expect at least 400 participants.
Moreover, answering another question from the Post, Sou noted that though Macau is a place with good public health services that has not had [polio] cases in years, the disease can still be seen in underdeveloped parts of the world.
“In Macau, we are lucky. We certainly hope that Macau residents would have this global perspective, understanding that we, humanity, are all one. So, whatever is happening in other parts of the world, if we don’t take action, it might come back. Who knows, right?” he said, adding that the initiative was good for Macau and humanity as a whole as well.
The deadline for registration is on October 4, with entry fees ranging from 150 patacas or 300 patacas depending on what the participants choose to join.
World Polio Day is annually observed on October 24.
This poster downloaded from the Rotary Club of Macau’s website promotes the 2024 End Polio Charity Walk and Run slated to take place next month.
Presidents from eight Rotary Clubs in Macau, including International District 3450 – Assistant Governor Elvo Sou (fourth from right), pose after yesterday’s press conference at Ilha Verde Secondary School of the Macau Chamber of Commerce. – Photo by Rui Pastorin
