The fight against polio is told through the photographs of London polio survivor and advocate Gautam Lewis, who recently returned to his birthplace of Kolkata, India, to immunize children against the disease and document his experience. The massive global undertaking of polio eradication led by Rotary and its partners is further illustrated by the images of photographer Jean-Marc Giboux, who has documented the battle against polio in its remaining strongholds of Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan throughout the past decade.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that mostly affects children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. There is no cure for polio — it can only be revented through immunization. The polio vaccine can protect a child for life.
Rotary and its spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative — the World Heath Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — have vowed to end the crippling disease forever and, with your help and support, would like to make both the launch evening and the photographic exhibition into stepping stones along that road.
The photographic exhibition is free and open to the public every day from Tuesday, 14 October, until Saturday, 18 October 2008.
Opening times: Tuesday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Menier Chocolate Factory, Ground Floor Gallery, 53 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RU