Rotary Club of Terrace End marks World Polio Day with dinner

MidCentral District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Kelvin Billinghurst says the impact of Covid-19 on our health services is totally dependent on the unvaccinated. Photo / Supplied

A Palmerston North dinner to mark World Polio Day took on a wider perspective this year, focusing on the challenges of pandemics generally.

Two MidCentral District Health Board staff addressed the Rotary Club of Terrace End's annual PolioPlus dinner last week.

Chief medical officer Dr Kelvin Billinghurst talked about the "absolutely profound" way the Covid vaccine was developed. It was out and being delivered within one year; prior to that the most efficient vaccine development was for measles and it took four years.

One of the reasons the mRNA messenger technology used in the Pfizer vaccine was developed in less than 12 months was the same technology was being developed for cancer treatments. It was then reconfigured for the Covid vaccine, Billinghurst said.

Current knowledge of some anti-viral agents for Covid has come out of the research for HIV treatments.

No steps in the development of the vaccine were sidetracked, Billinghurst said. The development started with base research, then animal studies, and concluded with human trials phases 1, 2 and 3 - the same rigorous process used for the development of other drugs.

It can take up to two years to recruit people for clinical trials but social media helped in this case, he said.

The side effects of the vaccine are "absolutely minimal". Covid is one of the safest vaccines ever produced and billions of doses have already been given in multiple countries.

The impact of Covid-19 on health services is totally dependent on the unvaccinated population, he said. People not vaccinated now will be the ones shaping the health services in the next year, if not years, and their need for hospital treatment is likely to increase surgical waiting lists.

Billinghurst encouraged his listeners to be selfish and use this scenario to encourage family members to get vaccinated.

In the 1800s most pandemics were bacterial in origin while viruses have now taken centre stage.

The Black Plague decimated 30 to 50 per cent of Europe and it is estimated it took the continent 200 years to recover. Covid-19 is nowhere near the extent of the plague, Billinghurst said.

The 1918 Spanish flu was thought to have played a key part in Germany's decision to sign the armistice as the virus hit its army before those of the Allies. On the flipside, Armistice Day celebrations in New Zealand are believed to have been what we would today call a super spreader event.

Covid-19 vaccination programme senior responsible officer Debbie Davies talked about MidCentral's preparations for a Covid-19 outbreak in the rohe, including mobile testing units and isolating at home.

She said Delta is a completely different beast to the virus we faced last year.

Rotary and Polio

World Polio Day on October 24 is about raising awareness for polio vaccination and the eradication of polio.

In 1988, Rotary International and the World Health Organisation launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. At the time, it was estimated there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries and the virus paralysed about 1000 children a day. Polio cases worldwide are down more than 99 per cent since 1988 but cases are still being reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rotary has committed to raising $50 million a year for polio eradication. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-to-1, for a total commitment of $150m each year.

Over the years, Terrace End Rotary has raised enough money for 11,000 children to be vaccinated.

To read more about Rotary International's efforts to end polio, click here.