Championing the polio eradication drive: India to attain freedom from polio — Mrs. Rajashree Birla

Championing the polio eradication drive – His Excellency Shri. Jamir, the Governor of Maharashtra, Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, Mr. Ashok Mahajan, Trustee of the Rotary Foundation and Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, the Aditya Birla Group, reaffirmed their commitment to wipe polio from the face of our country by 2010 at a function held at Raj Bhavan today.

Says Mrs. Rajashree Birla, "It is very unfortunate that in spite of polio being eradicated practically all over the world, it still e;xists in four countries. Among these are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India. We are deeply concerned about the situation in India.

For over five years now, we as a Group have been labouring relentlessly to bolster the polio eradication drive. We work very closely with Rotary International and the government, and like-minded institutions – like the Bill Gates Foundation. Our common goal is to ensure that in the foreseeable future no child should ever again suffer from the crippling effects of polio. In the last one year alone, we have helped administer over six million polio doses to children in the hinterland of the country and in the city of Mumbai.

To make sure that every child is immunised, now in most of our villages we arrange for getting the children from their hut-step to the polio booth. Our teams across our 40 factories have been assigned the responsibility of ensuring that every child under the age of five is covered against polio. At the same time, we perform reconstructive surgery and try to rehabilitate polio victims so that they become independent and regain their self-esteem".

"While it is true that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are two highly endemic states, we must bear in mind that regardless of geographies, every child in the age group of 0-5 years must be immunised against polio or he or she could become a potential victim. In Mumbai polio cases are few and far between and their existence can be attributed to the migrant population. But it is still a cause of concern. Polio immunisation has to be an ongoing process as children are born everyday.

Our government has declared tomorrow that is 5 April, as the National Immunisation Day for polio, wherein with them and the Rotary International, our Group will team up and try to reach the polio vaccine to every child. We will setup fixed booths, house-to-house visits, vaccinate children in transit at railway stations, in proximity to major markets and other public places. But we need your engagement as well," added Mrs. Birla.

"The Government of India and the State Governments have been implementing the Pulso Polio Immunisation programme since 1995-96 to immunise all children below the age of five years. In spite of the very good coverage of the immunisation campaign, not all children could be covered and many were left out. However, the Rotary International stepping in and joining hands with the government and with the active involvement of organisations like the Aditya Birla Group, almost entire targeted child population was covered under the programme resulting in a steep decline in the number of polio cases.

You will be interested to know – I have the latest statistics, that as against 268 cases of polio detected in the country in 2001, only 21 cases have been detected in the entire country as on 31 March 2009. It is particularly gratifying to note that not a single case of polio has been detected in Maharashtra in the last three months of 2009 as against two cases detected last year. This turnaround would not have been possible without the participation of committed organisations like the Rotary International and the Aditya Birla Group" commented His Excellency, Shri Jamir, the Governor of Maharashtra.

What each one of us can do through small steps such as? Mrs. Birla urged each one of us to root for this programme, spread the word and do whatever it takes. As individuals each one can help spread the message in our own areas of influence and beyond, influencing people who work at homes, such as household help, the cook, chauffeur and leveraging their connection to reach out to parents in the slums, polio could be stemmed.

At most schools children are engaged in SUPW activity – which is Socially Useful Productive Work. As a part of the SUPW, children can educate the underserved communities on the criticality of immunising children against polio. The parent-teacher body at all schools can act as another effective force in accelerating the immunisation rate.

She believes that we can all work proactively to augment the efforts of the government, municipal hospitals, Rotary International, social workers, in their drive. Only through our collective engagement – parents, all NGOs, social workers and the government can we attain freedom from polio in our country.