On August 25, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that polio was eradicated from the African continent. This announcement followed a period of 4 years without a reported case and massive efforts to immunize children over a 30-year period. Polio is an infectious disease that mainly affects children, attacking the spinal cord and potentially causing irreversible paralysis. It was an endemic disease throughout the world until a vaccine was discovered in the 1950s.
It is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan and cases have been reappearing elsewhere.
Gracious God,
we give thanks for developments that have allow for the elimination of certain diseases.
We pray for all who are working to find a cure for cancer and other diseases that do not have yet have an effective form of treatment.
We ask a special blessing on those who are afflicted by rare diseases
Amen
By Fr Pat O'Shea - Lower Hutt
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