World Polio Day: Fighting the disease two drops at a time

We are close to eradicating polio from this country, says Aseefa

KARACHI: Rotary Ambassador for Polio, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, commemorated World Polio Day at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio and inoculated children with two drops of the polio vaccine.



EOC Coordinator Fayaz Jatoi and Sindh EOC Technical Focal Person Dr Ahmad Ali Shaikh welcomed her to the cell. Also present were EOC Provincial Coordinator Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Aziz Memon of Rotary International Pakistan, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Sindh Chief of Field Office Christina Brugiolo, EOC National Technical Focal Person Dr Altaf Bossan and representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24 every year and is an opportunity to raise awareness about the disease. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world which are still polio-endemic but significant progress has been made with fewer cases reported in Pakistan in 2017. This shows that the country is taking concrete efforts to eradicate polio and the day is not far when we will have a polio free world.

During the ceremony Aseefa distributed gifts among children and conversed with their families. There was also a cake cutting ceremony to mark the occasion. She appreciated the efforts made by the Sindh Polio team for the eradication of the virus. "Pakistan has come a long way in polio eradication, from 306 cases in 2014 to 6 cases this year, this shows that vaccines work and that we are close to eradicating polio from this country," she said.

She thanked the people working tirelessly at the EOC. "It is their efforts that have brought the country to the brink of polio eradication. No child should have to suffer from a vaccine preventable disease." Aseefa also appealed to parents to vaccinate their children with two drops of the polio vaccine. "As we celebrate world polio day, I also want to thank the women working at the frontline of this programme, their efforts and sacrifices have brought us success and without them nothing was possible," she said.



After the ceremony, Aseefa tweeted, "On #WorldPolioDay we recommit ourselves to the eradication of polio in Pakistan.

We must protect every child from this crippling disease. It was the dream of my mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to see a polio free Pakistan and it has become my mission to make her dream a reality."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2018.