Briarcliff Rotary President Participates in “End Polio Now” Campaign in India

Rotarian President Krishnan Chittur of Briarcliff Manor Rotary participated in the National Immunization Day in Bangalore, India, held on January 20, 2013, in furtherance of Rotary International’s “End Polio Now” campaign.

Chittur was in Bangalore heading the Friendship Exchange Team from our Rotary District 7230. Local Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Bangalore, in coordination with goverment authorities, had organized a one-day, massive outreach program to get every child below 5 vaccinated against Polio, free of cost to the families.

While the local government provided the supervisory medical staff, Rotarians mass marketed the message, provided autorickshaws to reach the poorest sections of the community, and arranged for free transportation to the outreach centers where the children were vaccinated. Rotarians also provided meals and refreshments to all the volunteers, who included medical students and others involved in the program. The volunteers also answered queries of concerned parents, made logistical arrangements to transport the vaccine to farthest places and to transport parents and infants to the medical centers and vaccination outreach centers.

Thanks to the sustained effort by Rotary International over the past three decades, India has been polio free for over a year. We are delighted to have been able to participate in this massive effort to rid this planet of this scourge against humanity, which was organized by the Rotary Club of Bangalore. It makes us proud to be Rotarians—make the world a better place.