Kia ora koutou katoa
With the recent events in Samoa there has been a wake-up call world-wide on the importance of disease prevention and treatment.
The tragedy for us all is that while knowledge and treatments are available they are not universally or consistently applied to our populations.
 
Rotary has Disease Prevention and Treatment as one of our six areas of focus. We also have a huge proactive engagement in this area with the End Polio Now and Rotary Give Every Child a Future campaigns, but there is still the need for doing more and doing better along with our international and local partners.
Our International Service Chair, Nick Hurley, joins me with his contribution on what we can do to support the people of Samoa.
 
From Lane and me we wish you all a very safe and joyous festive season with family and friends wherever you may be.
We are so impressed and proud of our District 9940 members and everything you are doing. Our people truly are people of action.
Ngā mihi arohanui
John H Mohi     
                                                                                    
 
 Rotary helps Samoans deal with measles epidemic
Samoa is currently experiencing a measles epidemic of such severity that more than 65 sixty Samoans, mainly children, have already died from the disease. 
Nearly 4,000 people have been infected by measles out of a population of 200,000.  And those numbers continue to increase daily.  As Samoa struggles to deal with the crisis, the Rotary Club of Apia is actively supporting the local community by providing such items as beds and mattresses for the emergency isolation wards at the central hospital.
District 9940 is helping the Apia Club to provide urgent help to families affected by the measles through Rotary New Zealand (RNZWCS Ltd).  RNZWCS has launched a national appeal with an initial funding of $20,000.  The Rotary Club of Wellington led the way by donating $3,000 to help the Apia Club.  But more is needed, and a growing number of clubs are also contributing from several hundred dollars to some clubs contributing in the thousands.
 
Christmas will be a very sad and traumatic time for the people of Samoa, at the time when they should have been sharing the festive season with their families. 
 
You can help best by contributing to the Apia Rotary Club’s efforts, as individuals or as Clubs, via the Rotary New Zealand RNZWCS website (rnzwcs.org )
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