What can you buy with a one-dollar bill? Not much, right? Maybe a bottle of water or a pack of gum. A single stem red rose from a street corner vendor. All throwaway items. A George Washington bill doesn’t get you far. But there is one thing that costs only a dollar and that will buy something far more valuable than you ever imagined. Take a look in the slide show below.Do you remember when your child got his first polio vaccine at about 2 months? You held a sleeping bundled baby in your lap, who squealed out in pain as the nurse poked him with a needle. At that moment, you probably wondered why is he getting this shot? Isn’t polio a part of history?
True, in the United States, polio is a disease of the 1940s and 50s when rows of iron lungs lined the insides of hospitals and children stayed indoors during summer months to avoid infection. At its peak, the disease paralyzed or killed over a half million people every year.
In 1954 a vaccine arrived. A miracle cure. Cases quickly dwindled. The United States has been polio-free since 1979, and the disease is now a part of our history. Polio has also been eradicated in most other countries throughout the world. Thanks to vaccines India became polio-free two years ago. As recently as 2009 India had half of the world’s cases. The power of vaccines is astounding.
But polio is still rampant in three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In these developing areas of the world, the infectious disease continues to leave children crippled and paralyzed. Kids in these countries need your help and it only costs $1 to vaccinate a child. Forget that pack of gum and save a child’s life!
On World Polio Day, the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign is inviting you to make a donation to give a child a shot at life. Donate $5 and help 5 kids! Give $50 and put smiles on 50 faces. The goal is to raise $40,000 and vaccinate 40,000 children.
Let’s wipe out this disease entirely! We’re so close!
Photo: cattias.photos / Flickr