A PARTNER in the Rolle Medical Practice is to take part in the Paris Marathon in aid of a campaign designed to eradicate polio. Dr Billy Willcok will run in the marathon which is held in April and hopes to raise funds for the Thanks for Life, End Polio No

A PARTNER in the Rolle Medical Practice is to take part in the Paris Marathon in aid of a campaign designed to eradicate polio.

Dr Billy Willcok will run in the marathon which is held in April and hopes to raise funds for the Thanks for Life, End Polio Now campaign which is being supported by both of Exmouth's Rotary clubs.

The route for the 40km event allows participants to take in some of the city's most famous sights.

Along with the Berlin and London Marathons, it is one of the most popular long-distance annual running events in Europe.

Both The Rotary Club of Exmouth and the Exmouth Raleigh Rotary Club have worked in partnership to raise awareness of the End Polio Now campaign.

Raleigh has been busy visiting schools to deliver informative talks on the project.

And the Rotary Club of Exmouth has been commissioned to supply two million lapel stickers for the Thanks for Life campaign.

Polio is a highly infectious and affects the nervous system, sometimes resulting in paralysis. It is transmitted through contaminated food, drinking water, faeces and swimming pool water.

The condition mainly affects people who haven't been immunised. Most parts of the world are now polio-free following successful immunisation programmes.

Vaccination is the only effective method of preventing infection.

The global effort to eradicate polio worldwide began in 1988, led by the World Health organisation, UNICEF and the Rotary Foundation.

Between them, it has reduced the number of annual diagnoses cases from the hundreds of thousands to around a thousand.