Polio survivors to seek medical cards

POLIO survivors hit with a secondary illness are to seek automatic entitlement to medical cards at a Government committee next week.

Representatives of the Post Polio Support Group (PPSG) said many are facing financial hardship because of a second debilitating illness know as the Late Effects of Polio (LEP).

This can cause serious loss of mobility years after the person first contracted polio, according to PPSG administrator Anthony Carrick. “Up to 60% of those who had polio will contract LEP. For years, they may have been dealing with a bad leg with no further debilitating effect for 30 or 40 years.