Each October, Polio Australia runs the “We’re Still Here!” campaign for Polio Awareness Month to raise awareness of polio and its late effects throughout the community. All forms of publicity bring in new additions to the Australian Polio Register and enquiries from polio survivors who were previously unaware that their symptoms may have been related to an earlier bout of polio.

This October, Polio Australia will also be celebrating Rotary International’s World Polio Day on 24 October. The extraordinary work undertaken by Rotary International over the past three decades towards eradicating polio worldwide is an achievement that every one of Australia’s polio survivors is aware of and fully supports. No one who lived through the pre-vaccine epidemics ever wants to witness the effects of this cruel virus on the community again.

Read more in Bupa’s Peak Health online magazine. Listen to Polio Australia’s Vice-President, Gillian Thomas, speaking on World Polio Day about polio and its late effects, why you should put your name on the Australian Polio Register, and more.

Things you can do

• Wear something Orange to show your support for Australia’s polio survivors.
• Think about any polio survivors you know and encourage them to add their details to the Australian Polio Register.
• If you are a Rotarian, consider inviting a polio survivor to speak at one of your Rotary Club meetings. Click here for further information.
• Click here to see what other Polio Awareness Month activities are happening around Australia.
• Click here to see Post-Polio Health International’s (PHI’s) theme for their 2013 “We’re Still Here!” Polio Awareness Week campaign.
• Take every opportunity to encourage parents to immunise their children against polio – even though polio has been eradicated from Australia, the virus is only a plane ride away!