Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley In Touch April 2014 | страница 6

How South-East Asia became polio-free
“the days of tranquility,” so that immunizations could
be carried out across the country. The government
had planned to do a National Immunization Day
(NID) only in areas not impacted by the war, which
meant about a third of the country’s children would
not be vaccinated.
But after consulting with UNICEF, Rotary leaders and
UNICEF established contact with the rebel party, the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who still controlled
some areas of the country, to pursue a cease fire. The
rebel leader responded that if Rotary and UNICEF
could persuade the government to stop the war for
two days, they would be willing to lay down their
A child is immunized against polio in Nepal.

By Rotary staff

guns too. “Our war is not with the children,” a letter
from the rebel leader stated. Consequently, the im-

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) today

munization efforts reached approximately 95 percent

will declare the South-East Asia region of the World

of the country, and were conducted in about 5,000

Health Organization as polio-free, an important mile-

midwife areas and 10,000 centers.

stone in the worldwide effort to eradicate polio. The
11 countries in the region — Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia,
Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and
Timor-Leste — are home to 1.8 billion people and
represent the fourth of six regions worldwide to be

Subsequent NIDs became days of tranquility. Colombo proved to be the most challenging area, but
with Rotary’s support, children typically not accessible
to government care workers were reached. The last
confirmed case of polio in Sri Lanka was in 1993.

officially certified polio-free.

Bangladesh

This landmark didn’t just happen on its own, but em-

Salim Reza, who had been on the Bangladesh Rotary

bodies a lot of hard work by many dedicated volun-

Polio Committee for 20 years, said the biggest chal-

teers. We recently contacted chairs of National Po-

lenge to his country becoming polio-free was igno-

lioPlus Committees in the region to learn how their

rance, a lack of education, and poverty. Awareness

countries became polio-free and how Rotary took

programs supported by Rotary, WHO, and UNICEF

part in the process. The results were enlightening.

led to a greater awareness of polio eradication and a

Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, N. R. Gajendran shared how a cease fire

much increased participation in National Immunization Days. The most recent immunization day had a
99 percent rate of coverage.

was negotiated in the Sri Lankan Civil War, called
Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley

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