Rajabu Vampise was a happy, healthy 2-year-old when he contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. His parents were opposed to vaccination, so he was not protected from the deadly viral disease.
Now an adult, he uses a hand-pedal bike to get around as a UNICEF-supported community mobilizer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, encouraging mothers and fathers to vaccinate their children.
"Polio is a very dangerous disease," he says. "If I'd been vaccinated, I wouldn't be in this state."
Thanks to community workers like Vampise, polio has been nearly eradicated in many parts of the world. UNICEF helps vaccinate over 400 million children globally against polio every year. To eliminate polio completely, every child in every household must be vaccinated.
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