Making Polio History

At a recent meeting between Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, on the agenda was the prioritising of development aid. During the course of the discussion time was set aside to consider the battle to eradicate polio which still poses a health problem in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. According to Eamonn Gilmore 'Ireland is very much involved in making polio history.'

In a subsequent letter to the Irish Times, Blaise O'Hara of the Post Polio Support Group, took issue with the Tánaiste:

Polio is certainly not “history” for the 7,000 polio survivors living on this island ... Polio is not a childhood infection like the measles – it carries with it lifelong disability for those who did not make a full recovery. Of the 7,000 survivors living in Ireland, 4,000 can expect to be diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome. PPS is a chronic neurological disorder resulting in muscle and joint pain, increased muscle weakness, extreme fatigue, breathing problems and sleep apnoea.

Comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy meet two young fans in 1953

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