KARACHI: Rotary Ambassador for Polio Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari celebrated World Polio Day at the Emergency Operation Centre for Polio and inoculated children with two drops of the polio vaccine and met the people responsible for managing the polio programme in Sindh.
EOC coordinator Mr. Fayaz Jatoi and Technical Focal Person EOC Sindh Dr. Ahmad Ali Shaikh welcomed her to the polio cell and were joined by EOC Advisor Madam Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Chairman of the National Polio Plus Committee, Pakistan, for Rotary International Mr. Aziz Memon, Chief of Field Office UNICEF Sindh, Cristina Brugiolo, Technical Focal Person National EOC Dr. Altaf Bossan and team leads from WHO and UNICEF.
During the ceremony Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari gave presents to children and conversed with their families. Following this there was a cake cutting ceremony to mark world polio day and after cutting the cake she appreciated the efforts made by the Sindh Polio team in 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 vaccines work and that we are close to eradicating polio from this country. It was the dream of my mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to see a polio free Pakistan, we will make sure that dream becomes a reality. I thank 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, I appeal to all parents to vaccinate their children with two drops of the polio vaccine every time they are offered. 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.”
After the ceremony Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted that: 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 & it has become my mission to make her dream a reality.
World Polio Day is celebrated on the 24th of October every year and is an opportunity to raise awareness around vaccination. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world which are still polio endemic but great progress has been made with historically low cases 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.
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