Rotary District Governor of the 7020 District, Mr Vance Lewis announced that Rotary has partnered to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s and dementia across the Caribbean. Photo: VINO/File

Speaking with Virgin Islands News Online, he related that visits have been completed to St Croix, St Thomas and St John, Saint Martin (French), Sint Maarten (Dutch), Anguilla and St Barths (Saint Barthélemy) in addition to seventeen of the twenty-eight clubs in Jamaica. 

Lewis disclosed that the visits have all gone well, adding that quite a lot of good work is being done by the Rotary to help in these areas. 

On Monday September 17, 2012, Rotary held a press conference to announce Scotiabank as a Platinum sponsor for the upcoming Rotary International District 7020 Conference scheduled for May 14 and 18, 2013. 

The conference is expected to attract hundreds of Rotarians from across the region to the shores of the British Virgin Islands.

The District Governor explained that Scotiabank is the first and so far only member of the corporate community to become a Platinum sponsor for the Conference, answering a general call issued to the public to partner with Rotary in whatever capacity they might be capable. Other companies have since offered donations as well. 

Mr Lewis also revealed that he had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and the District B Governor for Lions in August of 2012. 

The MOU calls for the parties to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s and dementia across the Caribbean. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia which manifests as a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behaviour. District 7020 is taking the lead in creating awareness of the condition. 

He further disclosed that “Rotary is making serious strides in polio eradication as well.” This he explained is now a global initiative that began in 1985 to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. As of September 11, 2012, there were only a reported 136 new cases of polio arising in three endemic countries. 

This, he explained, is a marked decrease from the 2010 figure of 1352 cases. Rotary International, he added, continues to work on polio eradication in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Rotary theme for the year 2012 is "Peace through Service".