Dr. Noel Jackson, a Trenton family and cosmetic dentist, administers polio vaccine to a child during a Rotary International program in which he participated last month in India. More than 172 million children under the age of 5 were inoculated by 500,000 volunteers, who included a group of American Rotarians.
Dr. Noel Jackson, a Trenton dentist, was among a group of 20 Rotary International volunteers who visited India last month to vaccinate children against polio.
Arriving in Utter Pradesh, the volunteers were joined by 500,000 other volunteers from across the country who took part in a Vaccination Day program on Feb. 7, administering the oral form of the polio vaccine to an estimated 172 million children under the age of 5.
The volunteers simply placed two drops of the vaccine on the tongues of the children to provide lifetime protection against the disease.
Jackson and his fellow Rotarians visited cities as large as Mumbai and Delhi to the smallest rural villages in the country in a program to vaccinate every child.
According to a Rotary International spokeswoman, the organization made a commitment to stamp out polio on a global scale 25 years ago.
Of the 125 countries in which polio was endemic when the program started, only India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria remain, she said, adding that in the past, as many as 350,000 children contracted the disease in a typical year, compared with less than 2,000 in 2009.
Rotary volunteers also have contributed more than 1,360 pairs of donated eyeglasses for matching with people throughout India who need prescription eyeglasses.
Jackson is currently celebrating his 30th anniversary of practicing family and cosmetic dentistry in Trenton.
Red Dress event draws 550 plus
Wearing red in keeping with the theme of the American Heart Association’s annual Go Red for Women luncheon Feb. 24 at the Detroit Marriott, keynote speaker and author Mary Ann Bauman, M.D., told the audience of over 550 that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women.
The heart-healthy luncheon included a red-dress fashion show and was preceded by a silent auction, heart-health workshops and medical screenings.
“One woman a minute dies from heart disease,” Bauman said, adding that it is harder to diagnose in women.
She listed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, diabetes and bad family genes as some of the risk factors for heart disease.
Discussing obesity, Bauman said that we are “victims of our abundant lifestyle.”
She said that risk factors develop by the age of 10 and discouraged eating fast foods.
Bauman, a graduate of Wayne State University in internal medicine, spent nine years in practice and teaching and administrative positions at various universities before moving to Oklahoma.
She is the author of “Fight Fatigue Six Simple Steps to Maximize Your Energy” and is featured daily on an Oklahoma television station.
Coming up . . .
March 27 — Great Lakes Symphony’s “Backstage Pass” fundraiser; 5 to 10 p.m. at the Wyandotte Regional Art Center in the newly renovated Wyandotte Masonic Temple, 81 Chestnut; performances by a variety of SGLS ensembles, silent raffle, food and beverages; tickets, $30, $50 and $100; for more information visit www.sgls.org; e-mail [email protected] or call Debby Mitek at 734-671-8343.
April 16 — Exchange Club of Dearborn’s annual Monte Carlo Night party, black-tie optional; 6 p.m. at Park Place, 23400 Park; appetizers, open bar, seafood/steak dinner, desserts, drawings for cash prizes totaling $10,000; tickets, $150 per person (only 200 will be sold); for tickets or more information, call Mark Karcher, 313-277-4600 ([email protected] or Marty Heger, 313-565-3100 ([email protected]).