Rotary International’s India National PolioPlus Committee (INPPC) recently organised the ‘National Orientation and Planning Meet’ (NOPM) on polio in New Delhi. The event began with the inaugural ceremony at Hotel Le-Meridian amidst senior officials from the India Polio campaign. The meet, recognising the role Rotary leaders (all volunteer members from different professional fields) play in their community, deliberated upon the way forward for the campaign, particularly in sustaining the eradication goal in the wake of ‘zero’ polio status in the country.
At this annual meet on polio, incoming Rotary leaders (2013-2014) were entrusted and motivated to lead the polio eradication effort. The meet was attended by representatives from Government of India and from partner agencies like WHO, UNICEF along with the Rotary International’s senior leaders, National Committee Members, District Governors, District PolioPlus Chairmen and other special invitees.
The new Rotary leadership from 34 Rotary districts across the country committed themselves to advancing Rotary’s humanitarian goals, foremost being global eradication of polio. Observing India’s role in guiding other endemic nations in the fight against polio, Dr Robert Scott, Chairman-International PolioPlus Committee of Rotary International said, “Considering the demographics, sheer size of India, the programme implementation and dedication from all and the achievement is commendable. If India can do it for polio, so can the others. India is a shining example and the endemic nations are looking up to it for lessons and best practices”.
Anuradha Gupta, Additional Secretary and Mission Director (NRHM), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India was also present during the meet. She stressed on the importance of routine immunisation in preventing polio and other childhood diseases.
India is only nine months away from achieving the regional polio-free certification. “India reported the last wild polio virus type 1 case in Howrah, West Bengal, on January 13, 2011. If the eradication effort is complacent now, polio could rebound quickly, potentially paralysing thousands of children a year,” said Deepak Kapur, Chairman India National PolioPlus Committee, the volunteer body that is entrusted to spearhead the campaign for Rotary in India.
“Polio still exists in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan, where it has never been stopped,” informed Dr Sunil Bahl, Deputy Project Manager, NPSP – WHO, the technical expert who manages the surveillance and monitoring of wild polio virus in India. “The danger prevails as India shares borders with these neighbouring countries, where poliovirus has been rampant last year,” Dr Bahl added.
To make polio history, Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has recently presented a six-year plan ‘2013-2018 Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan’. Public health experts have said that if the polio eradication campaign succeeds, the world would not only declare it the second disease to be eradicated after smallpox; it would also save billions of dollars and not to mention millions of children from a crippling future. A 2010 analysis found that if polio transmission were to be stopped by 2015 the net benefit from reduced treatment costs and productivity gains would be about $40 billion to $50 billion by 2035.
The meet called upon Rotarians from all across the country to excel their efforts in achieving Rotary’s humanitarian goals. Since India is inching closer towards regional polio-free certification, Rotarians pledged to continue their efforts in keeping India polio-free forever.
Additionally, the NOPM served as a platform to earmark new targets and milestones – particularly 100 per cent coverage on national and sub-national immunisation says (NIDs/SNIDs) and the strengthening of routine immunisation amongst others.
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