Advocacy drive: Polio ringtones to create awareness

In an effort to create awareness about polio in Pakistan, cellular companies and a non-governmental organisation launched an initiative to download ‘polio ringtones.’ The initiative is part of an advocacy campaign for National Immunisation Days – January 30, 31 and February 1. Pakistan is one of the few countries, besides Afghanistan, Nigeria and India, where polio is still endemic. The country registered a record 197 fresh polio cases in 2011, representing over 60 per cent of cases reported worldwide, as compared to 144 cases reported in 2010. In Balochistan alone, the number of cases shot up from 11 in 2010 to 72 in 2011, while Sindh had 32 cases in 2011, up from 27 in 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.