PolioPlus VOL. XIV ISSUE - 10 December 2012
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As a driver, your target is always to be with the most competitive team possible. - Sebastian Vettel What is the similarity between Sebastian Vettel and India's Polio eradication campaign? Both are emerging victorious over the last two years – Vettel winning the Indian Grand Prix over the last two years and the campaign by successfully keeping the polio virus at bay in 2011 and 2012. While Vettel competed with other drivers on the race-track, Rotarians and their Partners battled with a virus which has the capacity of spreading at a very fast rate. As Vettel said, our aim should always be to become very competitive; in this final lap of the campaign, we must fasten our seat belts to move forward and emerge victorious, by making India polio-free in 2014. Our first and primary job, as always, is to make the community aware about the polio eradication campaign. There are various tools which can be used to reach the people – especially the most vulnerable ones – and keep them in step with the program, till we achieve our goal of complete eradication. Much of our target population is uneducated and uninformed about basic health issues, which makes it mandatory for us to become very competitive and focused. It has been observed that awareness activities associated with other events have produced good results. Polio awareness activities organized in conjunction with sports event, festivals and melas have helped in reaching communities with polio messages, with much broader outreach. In the upcoming one year, active involvement of the community at every step will be very important and will perhaps be the key factor in the success of the campaign. During recent festivals - Dussehra, Diwali and Durga Puja – Rotarians amply used the opportunity to make a point that the polio eradication campaign in India has reached a very crucial stage and losing from here will be disastrous on a much larger canvas. Using these opportunities to promote the campaign, with focus on Routine Immunization, will be an advantage for us. The year 2012 has been the most successful year of the campaign in India, as no polio case emerged in the country during entire year. The year started with the hope that after completing one year without a polio case, we will able to successfully keep the polio virus at bay in 2012, as well. 'Polio Summit – 2012' laid a strong foundation which motivated Rotarians from the club level to the International level. All Partners remained on alert to tackle the emergency situation and we succeeded – and that motivated us even more. 2013 becomes even more important. If we lose in this year it will be like losing the race in the last lap from a leading position. In this year, the task is tougher, because of the general perception in society that polio is now eradicated, which is very dangerous. We have to reach out to the community and leaders again, with the message that the fight for polio eradication is not over yet. The two NIDs of the year – the most crucial ones for the campaign in India– are our best chance to reach every child with the polio vaccine, in our respective regions. This is our best chance to make history, by ending polio in the country and help millions of children live a life free of paralysis. Let us all pray for a year in which we remain equal to any challenge that the virus throws at us. PDG Deepak Kapur
Team of Indian Doctors operated 400 Polio affected children in Nigeria After stopping polio virus transmission in India for almost two years, Rotarians across the world are working to eradicate virus from three remaining endemic countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria and help the affected children. Recently, a team of 19 Rotarian Doctors mainly orthopedic surgeons participated in a mega polio corrective surgery camp organized in Abuja, Nigeria. The team of doctors assisted by 6 volunteers operated around 400 patients between ages 1 to 18, suffering from various deformities due to polio.
PRIPs Raja Saboo and Kalyan Banerjee interacting with a child in the operation theatre
Project leader PRIP Raja Saboo through his personal involvement made sure that everything remains in line. Two other Past RI Presidents Kalyan Banerjee and Jonathan Majiyagbe along with Health Minister of Nigeria Prof. C. O. Onyebuchi Chukwu visited the camp to motivate the doctors.
The camp was sponsored by RI Districts 9110 and 9140 of Nigeria. Doctors from India left the country on December 2 to provide volunteer services in the nine day camp. Many doctors from Nigeria too joined to accomplish the difficult task successfully. The staff of the two hospitals in Abuja – Federal Medical Center in Keffi and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada – also deserves a special mention which readily extended their support. These identified patients travelled from different part of Nigeria to Abuja, where the camp was organized. Rotary is planning to organize more activities in future to ensure that operated patients get the required support equipments. The team of 19 doctors including - Anaesthesiologists Dr. Mangalsing Rajput, Dr. Subhash Chandu Madane, Dr. Sunil Mehta, Dr. Sinha U.K., Dr. Nilesh Ambadas Mahamuni and Ortho surgeons Dr. Subhash Singh, Dr. Vikas Ramchandra Sable, Dr.Amit Ramchandra Kale, Dr. Amod Divekar, Dr. M. Sudhir, Dr. Vijendra Rao, Dr. Yesayya Obeyya Shirshetty, Dr. Devendra Singh Paliwal, Dr. Jayant Nawani, Dr. A.K. Pandey, Dr. Shivshankar Bhaskaran Pillai, Dr. Deepak Purohit (Project Chairman); Pathologist Dr. Rajiv Pradhan (Project Counsellor) and General Surgeon Dr. Gune Girish (Team leader) – have done a great job through their participation in this camp. The team also included non medical volunteers PRIP Rajendra K. Saboo (Mission Advisor), Charanjit Singh (Media Coordinator), RRFC Vinay Kulkarni, Vivek Aranha and Dr. Suresh Kumar Sablok. The activity was appreciated by Nigerian health officials, International health agencies and especially the people of Nigeria, patients and their family members. TRF Trustee Ashok Mahajan met Pro-Vice Chancellor of AMU Today India is polio-free because the states of UP & Bihar successfully stopped virus transmission. Thanks to Muslim leaders who stepped in after initiative by Rotary to take action to increase immunization coverage in the Muslim community. On December 14, TRF Trustee Ashok Mahajan visited Aligarh Muslim University to meet with (PVC) Pro-Vice Chancellor Syed Ahmad Ali and Trustee TRF Ashok Mahajan along with discuss the current situation of the campaign. The Trustee was accompanied NCM Ajay Saxena at Pro-Vice Chancellor AMU Syed Ahmad Ali office by DG Laxmi Kant Bansal, RID 3110; NCM Ajay Saxena, District Polio Revenue Coordinator Atul Agrawal and Dr. Nazam Khaliuqe from AMU. Trustee Ashok Mahajan thanked Pro-Vice Chancellor for his kind support to make the campaign successful. Rotary Officials also requested him to reach to all the doctors associated with AMU for their support to the polio eradication efforts. PVC Syed Ali was very appreciative of action taken by Rotary to eradicate the disease in India and at the global level and assured his further support to promote the campaign among Muslims and other sections of the society. 3
CM Bihar shared India's success formula with Pakistan leaders Bihar has produced unprecedented results by stopping polio virus from spreading since last two years. Chief Minister Bihar Nitish Kumar after taking charge of the office has guided minister and health officials in his Govt. and produced great results. Recently, during his visit to Pakistan he was invited to attend a meet organized by Rotary and share his experiences and strategy. The meet was also participated by PM's Special Assistant/ Focal Person Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, DG Sheikh Jalal (RID 3271), RRFC Faiz Kidwai and Pakistan's NPPC Chair Aziz Memon. PDG Dr. L. B. Singh played key role in coordinating the meet. At the meet, CM Bihar shared how routine immunization coverage which was 18.3 per cent once reached 70 per cent mark in Bihar. He also gave a two page note on how target to achieve zero polio case in India was achieved.
PM Pakistan's Special Assistant / Focal Person Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Pakistan's NPPC Chair Aziz Memon along with other officials welcoming CM Bihar Sh. Nitish Kumar at the meet
Addressing the health officials and Partner's representatives in Pakistan, appreciating Polio Partners support he said, “Polio eradication in the state of Bihar gets good support from UNICEF, Rotary and WHO. UNICEF supports in mobilizing the community and generating demand and WHO supports monitoring, capacity building and surveillance.” He further added, “Rotary plays an important role by ensuring that Polio Eradication remains on the top of Government's agenda”. National PolioPlus Chair Pakistan Aziz Memon thanked the Chief Minister for giving his valuable time and appreciated his efforts to boost the campaign in Bihar. PolioPlus Orientation & Planning Meets RID 3060: PolioPlus Planning and review meet of RID 3060 was organized on December 1 at Nadiad, Gujarat. Participation of DG Suresh Gandhi, NCM Vinod Bhatia, DPPC Dr. Yogesh Mehta, District Chair TRF PDG Ashok Panjwani along with other Past and present District leadership ensured that all the participants leave motivated and with a clear understanding of current situation and efforts required to make the campaign successful. Addressing the participants NCM Vinod Bhatia said, “We have almost reached the two year mark successfully in our effort to make India polio-free in 2014 and I am hopeful that with your active participation we will be able to keep our district poliofree in 2013 as well”. DG Suresh Gandhi also appreciated the efforts of Rotarians in the field and called for supporting the Rotary's Polio Eradication programme financially as well.
NCM Vinod Bhatia joined by DG Suresh Gandhi, DPPC, Dr. Yogesh Mehta and other officials inaugurating the meet by lighting lamps
RID 3211: The PolioPlus Orientation and Planning Meet of RID 3211 was organized at Kottayam, Kerala on December 16. The meet was participated by DG P G Muraleedharan, NCM K. P. Kamaluddin, DPPC Dr. G. A. George and club leadership.
NCM K. P. Kamaluddin, DG P. G. Muraleedharan, DPPC Dr. G. A. George along with other leaders at the meet 4
Addressing the participants DG Muraleedharan said, “This is the high time when Rotarians in the district who have kept it polio-free since many years, ensure that the region remains polio-free till 2014”. All the speaker also emphasized on making the upcoming NIDs in 2013 a great success through active participation.
RID 3201: The District level PolioPlus Orientation and Planning Meet of RID 3201 was organized at Coimbatore on November 18. RC Coimbatore Midtown organized the meet. TRF Trustee Ashok Mahajan participated as chief guest while NCM K. P. Kamaluddin presided over the meet. District Governor V. Rajkumar inaugurated the meet in presence of NCM Kamaluddin, Dr. S. S. Velan & Dr. Saira Banu SMOs of WHO among others. DG Rajkumar spoke on role of Rotary in the efforts towards eradicating Polio from India and the World. He called on DG V. Rajkumar, NCM K.P. Kamaluddin and other officials at the meet club leadership to be more vigilant and not to be complacent in the future so that India gets certified polio-free in 2014. NCM K. P. Kamaluddin spoke about Rotary's polio eradication programme and Rotary's financial contribution towards global polio eradication. The meet ended with vote of thanks by Rtn. S. Rajasekhar, Secretary of the Meet.
Dr. P. Narayana, INPPC Vice-chair (addressing) along with district officials at RID 2980 Orientation & Planning Meet at Salem, Tamilnadu
Dr. P. Narayana, Vice-chair INPPC at Karnataka RCH officer workshop on December 17 also attended by Sh. Madan Gopal, Principal Sect., Health & F P, Karnataka Govt.
Health camps organized in West Bengal during November S-NID Three health camps were organized in the district of West Bengal on November 18 in very remote areas of Bardanga and Panchla region. In the past three years Rotarians of Kolkata have made it a routine exercise to organize free health camps in these areas during every immunization activity. At these camps 653 children were treated by child specialist who travelled all the way to participate in the camp. 1356 children were also given polio drops in these areas during the camp and thereafter during door to door activities. Another camp was organized by RC Murshidabad on November 18 at Khanabari, Suti-II. Two doctors from Mahishal PHC attended the camp where 188 children were treated and 88 children were vaccinated with polio vaccine. Govt. officials including BMOH, BDO, Panchayat Representative along with large number of volunteers also participated in the camp. These camps have played a great role in building Rotary-community bond.
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Abbott- Rotary Partnership organized five free health camps in December In the month of December, Rotary-Abbott partnership organized five free 'Mega Wellness' health camps in different parts of the country. These camps – organized in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh; Kochi, Kerala; Kolkata, West Bengal; Bangalore, Karnataka and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – helped in reaching around 3500 underserved patients with free medical facilities. Bareilly: The camp in Bareilly was a huge success which registered participation of more than 1600 patients mainly from the underserved community. The camp was inaugurated by NCM Dr. I. S. Tomer, Mayor of Bareilly and participated by host club President Sandeep Mehra, Camp Chair Dr. Sunil Kumar, Rtn. Shyamji Sharma along with local Rotarians. Patients also availed the diagnostic facilities including Thyroid, Diabetes, ECG, Ultra sound, x-ray and hemoglobin. Kochi: In the camp organized in Kochi, Kerala on December 16, 2012, 542 patients visited the camp. A total of 200 patients were tested for diabetes and 115 patients for thyroid at the camp. The camp was inaugurated by local MLA Jose Thettayil in the presence of Rotarians of the host club of Cochin Global.
NCM Dr. I. S. Tomer, Mayor Bareilly and Rotarians of the region visiting a booth at the camp showcasing equipments to support polio affected limbs
Kolkata: The camp in Kolkata was organized in an underserved area in the suburban part of the city on December 23. As many as 616 patients visited the camp and got checked up by specialist doctors from various fields. The camp was organized by RCs Salt Lake City, Calcutta Salt Lake Green Fields and Bagu Palli Niketan under the guidance of PDG Rajkumar Rajgharia. Chief Guest Smt. Jahangir Bibi, Chair, Panchayat Samiti inaugurated the camp and praised the work done by Rotary-Abbott partnership to serve the community.
Chief Guest MLA Jose Thettayil inaugurating the health camp
In the camp 110 patients were tested for diabetes while 100 patients were tested for Thyroid. A big number of patients were also checked by eye specialist and were diagnosed for cataract. Free treatment will be provided by club to those who will be tested positive for cataract.
Bangalore: The camp was organized on December 23 in Bangalore. Chief Guest Mr. Narendra Babu, local MLA inaugurated the camp in presence of Rotarians and community people. A total of 220 patients were diagnosed by various specialist doctors and prescribed medicine was given to them free of cost. Around 137 patients were diagnosed for Thyroid at the camp where as number of patients checked for diabetes was 170. PDG Rajkumar Rajgharia (addressing) and other officials at the inauguration of Lucknow: The partnership organized its last camp of the year at Lucknow on Kolkata camp December 29-30. The two day camp registered a total of 510 patients where 200 and 109 patients were tested for Diabetes and Thyroid.
NCM Ajay Saxena along with other distinguished guestsat the inauguration ceremony of Lucknow camp
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Chief Guest Sanjiv Kumar Mittal, I.A.S., Commissioner Lucknow in presence of Anurag Yadav, I.A.S., District Magistrate, Lucknow; IGP Lucknow Range Navneet Sikera, I.P.S.; NCM Ajay Saxena, Imam F. R. Wayzi and Saburriddin Azmi, Principal, Nadawa college inaugurated the camp. Muslim religious leaders also visited the camp and appreciated the work done by Rotary-Abbott to provide medical facilities to the underprivileged. DGE Suresh Agarwal, RID 3120 also visited the camp on December 30.
Towards Polio - Free India India is still on path to complete three years without an incidence of Polio. It has been 22 months since the last victim of Polio was reported on our shore. Going strong, we hope to complete two polio-free years on January 13, 2013. We have done well so far to keep the score ‘nil'. Rotarians along with our partners in the field, Governments, UNICEF and WHO fought for this success, en route to achieving regional polio-free certification in 2014. While we are steadily approaching and edged past the half-way mark to certification, there however was a scare, when a case of AFP was suspected to be of P3 virus. A child in Darbhanga, Bihar was reported to be the new case after Rukhasar, the last reported in the country. The polio partnership in the country led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GOI issued directives and managed the situation the lab investigation, media release, and emergency response - with amazing sensibility and promptness. Investigation and lab reports later confirmed the case as non polio AFP and the same was immediately communicated. The incident though literally shook us along with the agonising hours before the final confirmation, however taught us a valuable lesson that there can be a case on the road to three years completion and thereafter, if we slack in our efforts. The threat within and from outside will always remain and the only way to be sure is overcoming it with quality immunisation rounds and a robust Routine immunisation coverage of all children. As you are aware, the NIDs (National Immunisation Days) will be held in January and February 2013. Do please ensure to make it a resounding success in your District. Further, Routine Immunisation (R.I.) as mentioned in my earlier communications as well is extremely crucial to our goal of Polio eradication. R.I. has been strongly stressed in the ‘Delhi Commitment’ released at the Polio Summit 2012, earlier this year. Also, coming to one of the most pressing
RI General Secretary John Hewko Immunising a child. concerns of the current global campaign, funds, this is diminishing by the way. Money for the global campaign is becoming hard to come by and this has already affected polio campaigns in some countries, where rounds had to be held back due to lack of funds. The India campaign is still strongly supported by the Government of India and Rotary and other partners have ensured this through their strong and continuous advocacy. Rotary International itself is committed to India’s goal of eradication and we have every support to achieve in the immediate future. But we however cannot be complacent and do our every bit possible to fill the coffers of the PolioPlus funds to ensure it never runs dry for us or anyone. Contributions from the DDF are accepted and could help in bridging this increasing fund gap. As you are aware, General Secretary John Hewko along with other Rotarians from U.S. and Europe and few others embarked on an ambitious fundraising cycle marathon on 17th November. They need our support, every penny/INR that you donate to this fundraising will be funding the numerous immunisation campaigns scheduled and planned in countries affected by polio including India. General Secretary has called on every Rotarian, Rotary District and Club
to support the efforts by donating whatever they will and can. In the days ahead, focus on India to successfully complete two years in 2013, strengthening of efforts in Pakistan and Nigeria and Afghanistan will be on the agenda. While India is steady, the news coming in from Pakistan, our immediate neighbour is encouraging too. The political leadership and partners including Rotary has initiated strong efforts on implementation, advocacy and communication to reach one and all. The cases this year are on a decline compared to last year’s global count and we are hoping to keep it minimum by year end. I am optimistic for the year ahead! Inshallah, we will be starting 2013 on a strong and hopeful note for the eventual eradication of polio in 2018. Rtn. Ashok Mahajan Trustee, The Rotary Foundation Director, Rotary International 2007-2009 Member, International PolioPlus Committee Chairman, Rotary International Membership Committee, 2012-13
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Free health camps organized in Moradabad, RID 3100 To make the community aware of polio eradication drive and reaching underserved with free medical facilities, Rotary – on request of CMO Moradabad - organized 6 free health camps in Moradabad & Sambhal District Area in November. A total of 1450 patients benefitted from free consultation services by doctors and medicines at these camps where as 210 children were immunized with polio vaccine. NCM Sudhir Gupta, DIO Moradabad, CMO Sambhal, DPPC Dr. Vijender Singh along with other health officials and local people from the community were present during the inauguration ceremony. Meetings with Municipal Committees in Budaun Prior to upcoming NIDs, Rotary is making efforts for active involvement of Municipal Committees in the district of Budaun, Uttar Pradesh. The initiative taken by Rtn. Shyamji Sharma led to a series of meetings with Committees heads of Bisauli, Usawan, Kachhala in the month of December. These meetings laid the foundation for active involvement of Municipal Board/Town Area committees during upcoming immunization activities. Polio awareness in a unique way by Rotarians in RID 3211 Rotarians of RID 3211 organized a unique polio awareness and fund raising program to support the program. Five Rotary clubs of Kozhencherry, Mallapally, Ranni, Thiruvalla and Thiruvalla East organized this unique activity- a helicopter joy ride event 'Fly and Support' – in association with Thiruvalla Merchants Association on October 26-28 at Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
Rotarians flagging-off the first joy ride
The helicopter was decorated with 'End Polio Now' message which sent a sound message in the community through media and the participants. The programme was inaugurated by DG P. G. Muraleedharan in presence of other regional Rotarians and participants. Asst. Governor Varughese Thomas played key role in organizing the event. District Magistrate Smt. Ritu Maheshwari; Dr. R. K. Srivastava, AD Health; NCM Ajay Saxena; CMO Shahjahanpur Dr. A. K. Srivastava and Ravi P. Agarwal, DPPC RID 3110 at the media workshop organized at Shahjahanpur, UP on November 2
Rotary's Polio awareness video van in Mewat, Haryana helped in reaching thousands with polio messages
Rotarians of RC Bangalore Brigades of RID 3190 with polio awareness delivery van
Sh. Mahendra Hardia, Minister of Health, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Sh. Sajjan Singh Verma along with RID 3040 DG Lokendra Papalal and DPPC Ramesh Tiwari flagging-off Polio awareness rath
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