First Lady launches anti polio campaign
First Lady of Iceland, Canadian-born Eliza Reid ordering coffee at Te & Kaffi this morning to launch the anti-polio fundraiser. Mbl.is/ Þórður
First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, launched a new campaign this morning organised by UNICEF Iceland and Te & Kaffi to fight against polio.
The campaign which runs over the next two weeks aims to raise funds for polio vaccinations. Polio can cause paralysis and death and is extremely contagious. There is no medication available to counteract polio but a vaccination prevents it.
By purchasing a beverage from Te & Kaffi, a well-known chain of coffee shops in Iceland, people can support the cause. With every beverage purchased, one polio vaccination is donated.
Sgríður Víðis Jónsdóttir at UNICEF says that they contacted the First Lady because she's Canadian, and that polio touched Canada very badly at one point. "Many people were paralyzed or died in Canada and even today there are people still dealing with the consequence of the virus, like in Iceland," she explains.
Iceland has vaccinated children against polio since the early 1960's.
See our interview with the new First Lady of Iceland below.
