Joining hands for a good cause

Rotary Club conducted a polio awareness drive on the occasion of World Polio Day on October 24.

Members of 19 clubs of Zone D participated in the drive that was aimed at educating the public about the importance of continuing immunisation and vaccination among children. Senior Rotarians and young guns help placards and did a candlelight march from Queens Statue at Cubbon Park to Rotary House of Friendship in Lavelle Road.

Says Dahanavi Sundaram, a law student of M S Ramaiah Group of Institutions and a member of the Rotaract Club of Brigade’s Next-Gen, “The reason why we are doing this event is because we want to spread awareness about polio, which is a deadly disease. Though India is declared free of Polio right now, people fail to realise that a single case, even in the neighbouring countries can trigger off an epidemic of sorts. Right now, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan still have registered cases of this disease and thus it is imperative for us to immunise our children.”

David Royee, the Polio chairman of the club agreed and stressed on the fact that “A polio-free world was what they were striving for.”

 Brendon Fernandes, president-elect of the Next-Gen club, says, “A lot of people think that since India is free from Polio, why are we wasting our time, money and resources on spreading awareness. But they fail to realise that all it takes is one person carrying the virus to enter our country for all this work to go down the drain. Until we eradicate polio from the entire world, this programme will continue. Also, polio is a compulsory project for all Rotaract and Rotary Clubs all over the world.”

Rotarian Prasad Sundaram, advisor of the polio committee and past district chairman, explained about the last case of polio in Bengaluru and how the club has been constantly monitoring this disease since then. “There isn’t a single day where we have missed talking to at least one person about this polio eradication programme because it is so dear to our hearts,” he says. “We also focus on teaching the younger generation what to do, how to administer the drugs, what drops to come, when to give and so on,” he adds.  “We have employed some innovative ways to increase awareness among the public,” says zone governor, Rotarian Fazal Mahmood. “We have displayed messages on a LED screen outside Hard Rock Cafe and have also taken to the social media as well.”

The march culminated in a meeting at Rotary House where eminent personalities like Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary to Government of Karnataka, Health and Family Welfare Services and Dr Malathi Holla spoke.