Rotary Club of Greater Bend Continues Local Campaign to End Polio Now Pints for Polio Kicks Off March 9 in Bend

In support of an international Rotary effort to eradicate polio and encourage Central Oregonians to vaccinate their children, The Rotary Club of Greater Bend announced a local campaign last year with the goal to raise at least $15,000 to support the worldwide effort. The second Pints for Polio event is scheduled to kick-off Saturday, March 9 from 2–6pm at 14 breweries/pubs participating in downtown Bend.

Title sponsor for the event is Lewis & Clark Bank, based in Oregon City, a full service bank with a Central Oregon Loan Production Office directed by Rotarian Larry Snyder.

PINTS FOR POLIO

The Pints for Polio event, set for Saturday, March 9 from 2-6pm in downtown Bend, will be a “pub crawl” type event where attendees will get a sampling of local beers from  14 Bend pubs and restaurants.

Cost is $25 per person and all the proceeds from the event will go into the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Attendees will receive a commemorative pint glass and a punch card good for six ounce beer tastes at a variety of downtown pubs to be used on the day of the event.  (See complete details of the event at the end.)

Registrations can be made on-line at www.PintsForPolio.org or if you would like to help sponsor the effort contact Cort Vaughn at 541-383-8180 or PintsForPolioBend@gmail.com.

END POLIO NOW

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is committed to achieving a polio-free world. Rotary is a spearheading partner in the GPEI, along with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal of the initiative is the global certification of polio eradication.

Local Rotarian and business consultant Cort Vaughan, a polio survivor, is chair of the End Polio Now Rotary Club of Greater Bend campaign. “I spent four months in the hospital at the age of two recovering from Polio,” explained Vaughan. “The disease left my right leg paralyzed below the knee. I do not want another child anywhere to be paralyzed by this horrible disease, which is why I am working with Rotary to immunize every child in the world.”

Rotary Club of Greater Bend President Jerry Upham has made it a priority for the local club to raise funds to help eradicate polio. Upham reported that through the work of the GPEI, more than five million people, mainly in the developing world, who would otherwise have been paralyzed, are walking because they have been immunized against polio, and more than 500,000 cases of polio are prevented each year due to the efforts of governments and the GPEI partnership. Transmission of the polio virus has been stopped in numerous countries but still remains a threat in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Chad and Niger.

In the first outbreak of polio in 2012 outside of an endemic country or a country with re-established poliovirus, Niger has reported a case of wild poliovirus. This is the first case in the country since December 2011 and is related to virus originating in Nigeria.

2012 ended with the fewest children paralyzed by wild polio virus, in the fewest places, in history. Two hundred and eighteen wild polio cases were reported so far in 2012 – a greater than 60 percent reduction from 2011. Over the year, through the tireless dedication of the on-the-ground heroes of polio eradication, more than 2 billion doses of vaccine were distributed to 429 million children around the world.

According to the Oregon Public Health Authority immunization is the safest and most effective public health tool available for preventing disease and death.

Vaccinating our families according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended immunization schedules, not only protects our loved ones, but our entire community as well.

LOCAL VACCINATION RATE

Vaughan explains that what that statement means by protecting our community is the concept of herd immunity. “If someone infected with a communicable disease visits our community and only meets people who are immune, then the disease will not spread.  If that infected person comes in contact with a susceptible individual, then the disease can spread. That is how epidemics get started. The greater the proportion of individuals who are resistant, the smaller the probability that a susceptible individual will come into contact with an infectious person. In this way unvaccinated people are indirectly protected by vaccinated people.”

Unvaccinated children actually threaten the rest of the population by decreasing our herd immunity.  A community must be about 85 percent vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. “The vaccination rate in Deschutes County is about 93 percent, so we do have herd immunity,” Vaughan said. However, school enrollment records from 2010/2011 indicated that some elementary schools on the west side of Bend had vaccination rates as low as 39 percent according to a news report in The Bulletin. “This puts all of the children in those schools at risk.”

Routine childhood vaccinations eradicated Polio in the United States in 1975 and have almost eliminated Whooping Cough, Measles and other diseases that were once common. Some parents mistakenly believe that those diseases no longer exist and that vaccinations are not necessary. There have been recent outbreaks of Measles and Whooping Cough in multiple locations including Washington, Oregon and California. None of these occurred in Deschutes County, however we are vulnerable. Recent outbreaks of Measles and Whooping Cough demonstrate that these diseases are still present and that routine vaccinations are critical to our health.

Pints for Polio Event Details

Saturday, March 9, 2013
2pm – 6pm
$25 in advance/$30 at the door

The price includes:

–          Commemorative End Polio Now mug  

–          Map to the participating pubs 

–          6 ounce specialty craft beer tastes at a dozen pubs  

Check-in is at the Summit Saloon, 125 NW Oregon Ave. Here are the participating pubs to date:

10 Barrel
1135 NW Galveston
www.10barrel.com

Bend Brewing
1019 NW Brooks St
www.bendbrewingco.com

Boneyard Brewing
www.boneyardbeer.com
Boneyard beer will be served at Summit Saloon

Broken Top Bottle Shop and Ale Café
1740 NW Pence Lane
www.btbsbend.com

Cascade Lakes Lodge
1441 SW Chandler Ave
www.cascadelakes.com

Crux Fermentation Project

50 SW Division St.

www.cruxfermentation.com/

Deschutes Brewery Public House
1044 NW Bond Street
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com

GoodLife Brewing Company
70 SW Century
www.goodlifebrewing.com

McMenamins Old St Francis Pub
700 NW Bond St
www.mcmenamins.com/691-old-st-francis-pub-home

Old Mill Brew Werks

384 SW Upper Terrace Dr., #101

www.oldmillbrewwerks.com

Platypus Pub
1203 NE Third St
www.platypuspubbend.com

Seven
1033 NW Bond St
www.sevenbend.com

Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill
1020 NW Wall St
www.sidelines-bend.com

Silver Moon Brewing
24 NW Greenwood Ave
www.silvermoonbrewing.com

Summit Saloon
125 NW Oregon Ave
www.summitsaloon.com

Worthy Brewing Company

www.worthybrewing.com

Worthy beer will be served at Summit Saloon