UNICEF hosted a program on 27 July 2014 to celebrate the second year since India has been certified a polio-free country. The event took place in Thyagraj Stadium, INA Colony, New Delhi, starting at 6:30 PM. The event was organized by Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault, the UNICEF Representative for India, and one of the special guests of the event was Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, for whom a majority of audience undoubtedly attended the event. Me and my highly esteemed fellow correspondent, Saurabh Sharma, without whose invaluable assistance this report wouldn’t have been impossible, covered this event.
The entry for the event commenced till 6:15 PM, and it was attended by a sizable number of chief guests, media-persons, as well as other audience. 6:30 PM onwards we were showcased the numerous TV spots for polio awareness, displaying facts such as the number of polio booths in India being 3,59,653, and 95.6 million kids being immunized against polio all over the country.
At last the five panel members of the evening were given a hearty welcome. These were Mr. Arsenault, Mr. Bachchan, Dr. Nata Menabde, the WHO Representative of India, Honourable Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the incumbent Health Minister of India, and Mr. Sushil Gupta, trustee of The Rotary Foundation.
After a brief keynote speech by the host, commemorating the achievements of UNICEF in the battle against polio, we were treated by a stop-motion short movie depicting a kid being tangled by ropes around his legs, but breaking free from them to play and enjoy. After that each of the five guests presented a speech in support of the theme.
First on the podium was Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault, who did not shy away from praising the dedication of the Indian government, along with the extraordinary collected effort of the fund-raising individuals, due to whose astounding contributions India was able to eradicate polio. He also highlighted the efforts of the Anganwadi workers, who tirelessly traversed through the rural areas to ensure that all infants get the stipulated “do boond zindagi ke“. Along with Amitabh Bachchan, Mr. Arsenault also thanked other celebrities like the late Farooq Sheikh, the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Ravi Shastri, and Sachin Tendulkar for raising awareness of the general masses to this deadly virus. He also asserted that India should be viewed by other nations suffering from this virus as a model for “globocentric polio treatment”. In the end he concluded by saying that we should recognize the danger of this virus if we hope to eradicate it for good.
Second to speak was Mr. Sushil Gupta. Very enthusiastically did he feel the need to celebrate India’s polio-free certification. He declared not only the 1.2 million dollars of contribution to his foundation as fundraisers, but also the large amount of man hours and business resources put in for this noble mission. He praised organizations like ASHA, UNICEF Social Mobilization workers, as well as Anganwadi workers in their huge initiatives for going door-to-door to provide the polio vaccines. He pointed out the happy coincidence of how in 2012, the same year when India became polio-free, the Rotary Foundation also got its first Indian manager, Mr. Kalyan Banerjee. He even asserted, perhaps rightly so, that the eradication of polio is the biggest historical achievement after the eradication of smallpox.
Next up on the podium was Dr. Nata Menabde. She stated how the WHO National Surveillance Programme has been actively involved in the war against polio for 17 years. A major point that she made by her speech was that the technicians and the fundraisers involved in the programme, undoubtedly also crucial for its success, would have failed without the front-line workers, who actually went out on the trying journeys to provide the polio vaccines in every afflicted corner. She held the opinion that the India Polio Campaign is one of the most successful public-private partnerships. She also thanked Amitabh Bachchan for helping in a clear and reliable message about polio reaching every family, and that other nations should take lessons from India in dealing with this endeavor.
Following her was Dr. Harsh Vardhan. He thanked the senior members of the UN Organization, and started his speech with the touching statement, “If a death occurs in a family, after a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months, you can adjust to it. But if a mother has a crippled child, then the trials and tribulations she has to face have no parallels.” He stated that in 1994, when the campaign started, 60% of the worldwide cases of polio were reported from India, and by 2002-03, this number increased to 67%, leading to a depression to their cause. He regarded the efforts of the “Polio Sainiks” and the Anganwadi workers to be essential for bringing down this vast percentage. He gave credits to Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin, who were essential figures in inventing the polio vaccine, and who gave the whole bank of medicines to WHO. He said how the two drops of polio vaccines contain 17 lakh particles, 10 lakh being P1 strain, 1 lakh being P2 strain, and 6 lakh being P3 strain.
However, in contrast to the victories we have achieved over the virus, he also presented us the picture of the further battles we will have to fight to completely eradicate polio. He said how polio virus are still found in the soils of countries like Brazil, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. Out of the 126 cases of polio still persistent in the world, 96 are reported from Pakistan, our neighbouring country. Also, in 2009-10, 23 countries which had previously been declared polio-free were infected again, due to people carrying the virus travelling abroad. In the end he presented us with a lucrative statistic that if polio is eradicated, the developing countries will save about 40-50 million dollars that they spend in fighting against it.
In the media question-answer event following this, Dr. Harsh Vardhan was asked what were the factors which resulted, from a 67% increase in polio cases in 2007, to complete eradication in 2011. To this he replied that there were pockets of villages where treatment were refused, due to prevailing myths like polio vaccines causing impotency. Various strategies were adopted by UNICEF to evaluate reasons why the treatment was being refused, and with a collected effort of everyone involved, the last case of polio in India was reported in Howrah on 13 January 2011.
Then, just before the most anticipated speech of the evening, we were shown a heartwarming short film, narrated by Mr. Bachchan, depicting the arduous journey of the front-line workers who provided the polio drops door-to-door. Their hard work had already been emphasized by the previous speakers, but watching them acrobatically crossing rapid streams, walking for days through scorching climate, remembering their mission by looking at a pair of crutches, and at the end of their journeys facing humiliation by several people closing their doors on their faces, but finally accepting the vaccines, really drove home the point. Later in the media event, when asked about any potential damage caused to the medicines carried through tough conditions, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the problem was successfully dealt with by using cold chain vaccine carriers.
Then the host, citing polio awareness in India the most successful and popular mass-media campaign, and attributing it to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, finally called on the podium the most awaited guest of the evening – Mr. Bachchan himself.
The crowd broke into applause and cheers as one of the most recognizable idols of India got ready to give his speech. Unlike the previous speakers, who had a more formal tone, speaking in English, Mr. Bachchan addressed everyone in the hall in Hindi, with a more cordial and hearty tone. He thanked the contributors and providers of the polio drops, drawing our attention again to the short film which was presented just a while ago. He said that he was made the ambassador of this campaign in 2003, the year Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out was the year of depression for their cause.
Mr. Bachchan, with his famously humble nature, said that he was just a man in front of the camera, and that the real thanks should go to all the people working behind the scenes to get these vaccines delivered to every child in India. He said that the creative designer behind this successful ad campaign, Mr. Piyush Pandey, suggested him to talk in a heavy voice like in the movies, to have an impact on the audience. Then he told us an amusing anecdote about how a lady, who previously was reluctant to get her son vaccinated, immediately took him to a doctor for it. When asked why the sudden change of heart, she replied, “TV pe Bachchan sahab bahut gussa lag rahe the.” In fact, this ad campaign saw such a tremendous success that the number of women in the village getting their children vaccinated shot up from barely one or two to one-hundred!
After his well-received speech, with adoration from his fans among the audience, came Ms. Sadaf Parveen, one of the oft-praised front-line workers. She began with her history about how she was the youngest child among 6 sisters and 3 brothers, how she saw the dangers of polio up close when her close friend Shama was afflicted by it, and how she then decided to battle against this virus. She described how the people usually shut the doors on their faces, made excuses. and refused vaccinations, but she strove on and was finally successful in her aim to get children vaccinated and protect them from this virus, so that nobody else will have to go through the troubles of Shama ever again.
The event was concluded by an Assamese choir group, singing songs like Mohammad Rafi – Ella Fitzgerald fusion, as well as patriotic hymns.