Although it is preventable, almost 100 women die from cervical cancer annually in T&T and Rotarian Dr Emmanuel Hosein is now appealing to women to get vaccinated.
Speaking at a polio eradication fund-raiser walk-a-thon hosted by the Rotary Club of Penal on Saturday, Hosein said HPV vaccinations were available in T&T and could prevent cervical cancer mortalities.
Hosein, who was stricken with polio at the age of eight and underwent multiple surgeries to correct his paralysis, said expensive treatment could be avoided if citizens accepted their vaccinations. He said the money raised from the polio march will be sent to Rotary International, the World Health Organisation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the eradication of polio.
Only three countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan and some remote villages in Nigeria - still have the polio virus. Saying T&T's last epidemic of polio occurred in 1971, Hosein said the Health Ministry has been successful in continuing a robust vaccination drive to stamp out polio. However, he said this did not mean that polio is gone.
"It is only when 100 per cent of humanity is vaccinated and there is no trace left of polio that we can say the virus is totally eradicated," Hosein said.
Meanwhile, Penal Rotary Club president Dr Akenath Misir, a former Chief Medical Officer, said T&T should not get complacent with the polio virus.
"Our Ministry of Health has maintained a 100 per cent record of immunization. We have good surveillance in the Caribbean and we have been able to eliminate polio since 1971," Misir said.
He thanked the Rotary Clubs of Pointe-a-Pierre, San Fernando, San Fernando South, Point Fortin, Princes Town and Penal for participating in the walk, as well as Interact Clubs from Shiva Boys' Hindu College, Parvati Girls' College, Naparima Girls' High School and Naparima College.
San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello, who opened the walk-a-thon, said while there is a vaccine for polio there is no cure.
"In light of this, we cannot afford to be complacent. We have to rise above the slowly gathering ignorance of a few and get out children vaccinated to ensure that polio and its effects never resurfaces again," Regrello added.