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This is a report by Steve and Sue Davison Rotarians from the
Rotary Club of Swindon Thamesdown and gives details about their visit to
Delhi in November 2009
Introduction
Rotary International has taken up the challenge to totally eradicate Polio worldwide and, together with the Indian Government, are carrying out a programme of immunisation for children up to the age of 5 years old throughout India.
In Delhi (and possibly in other parts of India) this programme is carried out twelve times a year, and on some occasions the Indian Rotarians are assisted by Rotarians from other parts of the world.
This year a group of 86 went from the UK to take part in the National Immunisation Day (NID) on 8 November 2009. This group was broken up into four different groups, one group went to Lucknow, one to Saharanpur, one to Moradabad, and our group (Group 2) stayed in Delhi. Our group started out with 28, then after Day 3 of the immunisation programme, some went their own way and we were left in a group of 22 Rotarians.
The vaccine which is used is taken orally and sometimes the children have to be immunised several times during their first five years for it to take effect. This is also topped up with zinc tablets to help with their digestion system.
Immunisation Programme
The programme is divided into three parts:
Day 1 - pre NID Publicity
Day 2 - Immunisation Day
Day 3 - House to House Mopping Up Operation
Day 1 - Pre NID Publicity
This turned out to be a launch ceremony on the lawns of the Residence of the Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dixit, together with other dignitories from the Delhi Government Office. Also present was a battery of photographers and press reporters, together with a number of local children and families who had been invited to come along to participate in the launch.
Following a few speeches, the Chief Minister carried out the immunisation on several of the children, then one by one a number of the Rotarians had their first go at administering the drops. The children were very well behaved, smiling, and very happy to receive a small gift of a toy aeroplane or car which had been donated by the Rotarians.
Following the formalities we were treated to a wonderful Indian "brunch", served on the lawn from some beautifully decorated marquees. Our first taste of a real Indian buffet!
This event generated a huge amount of publicity, and made most of the local and English speaking newspapers.
Another source of publicity we saw on our travels were large yellow banners and posters, hanging across streets, buildings, lampposts, trees, etc, all advertising the NID day and urging people to attend. In fact, they really had no choice as it is compulsory in Indian Law that these children under 5 are immunised.
Day 2 - Immunisation Day
The group of 28 was then split again, into one group of 22 who were taken to Madipur, on the outskirts of Delhi, then a group of 6, of which we were part, taken to a very "rural" area called Mukund Pur, by bus, local Rotarians cars, then finally walking, to our booth. This alone generated some curiosity because we were all dressed in our "uniform" of yellow and blue polo shirts, tabards, and caps, the like of which the children had probably never seen before!
The immunisation was carried out in a large booth and was already underway when we arrived, with a fairly orderly queue of children awaiting their turn. The process began with painting the little finger of the left hand with indelible ink, which would indicate they had been immunised. This was followed by administering two drops of vaccine in the mouth and finally the children were presented with a small gift which all the Rotarians had been recommended to take along. We each took a turn in all these stages.
During the course of the morning the queue grew and grew as news of our presence and presents went swiftly around the village! This encouraged more children to come along, which was the whole point of the exercise so we were pleased to see them. Some, however, thought they might like a second go at the drops and probably more importantly the presents, but they were quickly pulled out of the queue by the local organisers.
Later in the morning we were taken to another smaller village, where the immunisation was being carried out from the mobile unit (back of a van!). Again, news of our arrival soon spread and encouraged swarms of children to attend.
To finish the day, we were taken to the local Distribution Centre where the vaccines were stored. We were shown the refrigerated storage where the vaccines were kept in top condition ready for distribution as and when required.
Day 3 - House to House Mopping Up Operation
The final part of the immunisation programme is to carry out a house to house survey in Madipur to check that all the children had been immunised. This was done by two members of the NID staff, together with Rotarians, by following a detailed list of addresses, knocking on all doors and visiting homes where there were children under 5 years old. If they had missed the programme the previous day, they were immunised there and then. Again, our presence created much interest.
Summary
This trip came about following a talk from Allan Berry (who happened to be in our group) at the District Assembly. Allan is the District Polio Eradication Officer for District 1100 and is a member of Cheltenham Rotary Club. Subsequently Allan visited our Club and gave another talk on the subject and following this I put my name forward to join the group.
The date of the Immunisation Day (NID) has to be agreed by the Indian Government and although it was anticipated to be 8 November, it was not confirmed until only a month before, so the final travel arrangements had to be made at the last minute, which meant a flurry of frantic activity.
On our arrival in Delhi, we were greeted by local Rotarians and organised into our various groups for the onward journeys. This was the shape of things to come as everywhere we went we were welcomed by a number of local Rotarians.
Once at the hotel we attended a meeting hosted by the District Governor and local Rotarians who briefed us on the programme of events for the next few days, followed by a buffet lunch
For our first evening in Delhi we were invited to cocktails and fellowship with Distrtict Official of RI District 3010 at the Chelmsford Club, New Delhi. This was our first fellowship evening and we were made most welcome by the members, and treated to a buffet dinner with drinks.
Indeed, everywhere we visited in Delhi or Jaipur we were hosted by local Rotarians, always given a lot of information on any of the projects we were visiting, and usually offering some form of refreshment. They were delighted that we had made the journey.
We would not have missed this opportunity to work with and visit Rotarians in another part of the world.
This wonderful work they are doing must not go unnoticed and hopefully they will eventually achieve their aim to
ERADICATE POLIO IN INDIA.
