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Mr Alem Mumuni, a polio survivor and athlete, has appealed to parents to disregard every interpretation against immunization, and make their children available for the mass polio immunization.
Mr Mumuni who was attacked by polio at the age of two and rendered him paralyzed in both legs, is championing the eradication of polio by riding from Accra through Kumasi, Tamale and back to Accra to raise awareness on the need for all children to be immunized in the upcoming International mass immunization exercise.
The event dubbed: “Ride Out Polio,” is being sponsored by Rotary International Club, to arouse the public’s interest in the two-day mass polio immunization exercise in Ghana from October 22-24.
The same event takes place in the whole of Africa to ensure a wholistic approach to polio eradication.
Mr Mumuni who was speaking at a ceremony to receive him in Koforidua, also urged parents not to neglect their children with disabilities, but rather give them the needed attention and care to unearth their
God-given talents in them to make them self-reliant and not liabilities on families and societies.
He said “If me, a paralyzed person can ride a bicycle from Accra to Kumasi on one leg and win international cycling competition, then no child with disability is useless, what such children need is attention and support.”
In spite of his disability, the cyclist is a two-time African Champion in the Olympics Cycling Competition, and has since devoted his time and resources to champion the cause of Polio eradication to ensure that no child fell victim to the deadly disease.
Mr Philip Appia-Kubi, the Koforidua President of the Rotary International, said Rotary had been involved with the Polio eradication campaign in the world since 1985, resulting in the significant drop of Polio cases in the world and Africa in particular.
He disclosed that in 1985 when Rotary started the campaign, 350,000 cases of Polio infection were recorded yearly in the world, with the highest coming from Africa, but currently, the world recorded only 48 cases last year and Ghana since 2010 had not recorded any case.
According to records, apart from Afghanistan and Kazakhistan, the world was on the verge of becoming polio-free and overcoming the burden and devastation of its effects.
