Polio SA we have Adelaide Oval lighting up Orange in support of Polio awareness, late effects of Polio and Unley Town Hall from 11-13th October, Victor Harbor Council Main street Sculpture frm 11-17th October.
See below media release from Polio Australia
Polio Australia Media Release
Media Release
22 September 2021
Forgotten, but not gone
Polio Awareness Month calls on Australia to remember survivors
Polio, a disease that affected millions of children in the twentieth century – including the likes of Alan Alda and Joni Mitchell and, closer to home, Kerry Packer and Kim Beazley – has largely been forgotten in Australia. The catchcry of Polio Awareness Month is “We’re Still Here!” It’s a reminder that, while Australia hasn’t seen a polio outbreak for several decades, many people are still living with its effects.
Every October, Polio Awareness Month recognises the tens of thousands of polio survivors in Australia. This year, we’re lighting up landmarks in orange, protecting ourselves from another virus with orange face masks, and spreading the word that polio outbreaks may be gone but their effects linger.
The Late Effects of Polio include progressive muscle weakness, breathing difficulty, debilitating fatigue, chronic pain and swallowing disorders. Even those who had a mild case of polio – and some who were unaware they were ever infected – can develop these symptoms many years later.
With polio outbreaks now a distant memory, these late effects are little-known even among doctors and other health professionals. Many survivors are dismissed as simply “getting old,” while others are given unhelpful or even detrimental treatments.
Author and poet Gayle Kennedy, a Wongaibon woman who wrote of her experience with polio in the anthology “Growing Up Disabled in Australia,” knows what it’s like for post-polio symptoms to be misunderstood by health professionals. “Nobody knows much about it, nobody knows what we go through,” she says. “Because we’re old, we’re kind of pushed aside.”
Some polio survivors are themselves unaware of polio’s late effects. Many struggle to manage daily tasks with nothing to explain their symptoms.
Gillian Thomas OAM, Polio Australia’s president and a survivor of polio herself, says, “What’s missing is the awareness – health professionals know little to nothing about polio, and polio survivors don’t know where to turn for answers. Polio Australia is trying to increase that awareness, and get the information into the right hands.”
Polio Australia provides education and resources for both health professionals and polio survivors. For more information, see www.polioaustralia.org.au.
Media contact:
Steph Cantrill
0466 719 613
Polio Australia is a not-for-profit organisation committed to standardising quality post-polio information across Australia. Our vision is that all polio survivors in Australia have access to appropriate health care and the support required to maintain independence and make informed life choices.
Polio Awareness Month began in 2010 in Australia, to align with existing international campaigns including World Polio Day on the 24th of the month. World Polio Day is focused on eradication of the virus, which remains endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
