8/12/2019 Polio Eradicated in India

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HEALTH 15February 22-28, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Parveen Chopra

January 13, 2014 was a historic

day for India and Rotary. On

this day the nation completed

three years without a case of polio,

thereby standing entitled to

achieve the polio-free certification

from World Health Organization

(WHO).

The entire nation rose to com-

mend this incredible success of

India while Rotarians across the

country celebrated in a befitting

manner illuminating iconic

bu il di ng s an d mo nu me nt s toobserve this achievement, reports

Ashok Mahajan, Member,

International Polio Plus

Committee, and Past Trustee of

Rotary International. The India

Gate and Red Fort in Delhi were

illuminate d, as were Air India

Building in Mumbai, Junagarh

Palace in Bikaner, Red Fort in

Agra, Teeli Wali Masjid in

Lucknow, Hyderabad Public

School in Hyderabad, Neelam

Cinema in Chandigarh, and many

more. There were rallies, festive

gatherings, banners and hoardings

across town, etc.

While Rotary International madeeradication of polio from the

world its signature campaign from

1988, special attention was paid to

India, which was the worlds

largest polio-endemic country. So,

a global strong partnership of the

government of India, Rotary,

UNICEF and WHO was formed.

Bringing down polio cases from

500 estimated a day in 1988 to

only one case in entire 2011 was

a miracle. And now no case since

then!

The mass immunization cam-

pa ig n in In di a tw ic e a ye ar

administering of polio drops to

millions of childrenrequired

manpower, advocacy and huge

sums of money. Rotary engaged in

extensive advocacy efforts with

political leaders, bureaucrats, reli-

gious leaders along with strong

social mobilization efforts. In

India big donors to Rotarys polio

campaign have included Rajashree

Birla, Ushal Mittal and individual

Rotarians like Harshad Mehta

along with in recent times Rakesh

Jhunjhunwala, Cyrus Poonawala.

Internationally, Bill & Melinda

Gates Foundation gave $355 mil-

lion to Rotary for a polio-free

world.

Since 1988, with Rotarys

efforts, more than two billion chil-

dren around the world have been

immunized against polio. The

incidence of polio has since

declined by over 99 percent. The

surveillance and laboratory net-

work developed for polio eradica-

tion is one of the best in the world

and is often utilized by health

workers for detecting other emerg-

ing infectious diseases such as yel-

low fever and measles.

The visibility and popularity of

the program have led political

leaders to increase budgets for

polio immunization campaigns as

well as other health programs in

several countries, India in particu-

lar. Ravi Bhooplapur, prominent

Rotarian and Past Governor of

Rotary District 7250 in New York,

is ecstatic on receiving word from

India. He had made several trips to

remote parts of Maharashtra, and

taken teams from the US to pitch

in for the polio campaign.

For making India polio free,

Bhooplapur commends the efforts

of Past Rotary International

Presidents Raja Saboo and Kalyan

Banerjee, Past Trustees Ashok

Mahajan, Sushil Gupta, and

Pandurang Shetty, Past Directors

Shekhar Mehta and YP Das and

thousands of Rotarians from India

and around the world. Now, areas

in India bordering Bangladesh and

Nepal are still polio-risk, so polio

drop administration will continue.

Polio yet remains to be eradicated

from Pakistan, Nigeria, Yemen

and Syria, the last witnessed an

outbreak recently.

Looking forward, Rotary now

has in place the 2013-2018 PolioEradication End Game and

Strategic Plan budgeted at

$5.5 billion.

The Rotary campaign has succeeded in India. To commemorate three years without a single

polio case, which will get the nation polio-free certification from WHO in March, some

iconic buildings like India Gate in Delhi were illuminated at Rotarys initiative last month.

Ashok Mahajan, Member, International Polio Plus Committee,Mrs Rajashree Birla, who has contributed over $8 million

through Aditya Birla Group of companies, singer Anup Jalotaand a friend at the Air India building in Mumbai which too was

illuminated for the three-year no polio case milestone.

The entire nation rose to commend polio-free status whileRotarians across India celebrated by illuminating iconic

buildings and monuments like India Gate in Delhi last month.

Past Governor of Rotary District 7250, Ravi Bhooplapur, alongwith Rotary Foundation Chair Wilf Wilkinson in Aruba 2012.

Students of Xavier University School of Medicine, Aruba(XUSOM), participated in End Polio Walk in Aruba -2012.

Ravi Bhooplapur is President of the school.

Past Trustee of the Rotary Foundation Ashok Mahajanadministering polio drop to a child on the eve of National

Immunization Day in Mumbai. Looking on are MaharashtraGovernor K. Sankarnarayanan , his wife, and philanthropist

Mrs. Rajashree Birla.