THOUSANDS of crocus flowers planted by Bewdley Rotary in support of the ‘Polio Plus’ campaign are blooming again in time for the organisation’s birthday.
The 5,000 blooms were planted in Jubilee Gardens back in October 2016 to spread awareness of the campaign and its efforts to eliminate polio across the world.
A vaccine was first developed in 1955, succeeded by an oral form in 1962, which helped Rotary Clubs in the Philippines set out to immunise all 6million children against the disease in 1979.
The enormous success of the project then allowed Rotary International leaders to extend the plan to all children across the world.
During a visit to the World Health Organisation in 1987, the group said: “We have over a million volunteers and $247million, and we want to eradicate polio.”
The outcome was that Rotary International, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control became partners and formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
In 2007 the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation joined the cause, and have since contributed over $5billion to the cause.
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan but with only 12 cases in 2023, the complete eradication is envisaged to be very soon.
Purple crocus flowers are used as a symbol for the campaign, originating from the practice of dipping a child’s finger in purple dye to distinguish them after they receive the vaccine.
Rotary International celebrated its 120th birthday on February 23, around the same time as crocuses blooming in the UK.
Bewdley Rotary encourages anyone interested to come and visit the bloom in Jubilee Gardens.
