Getting home was very easy, the planes were on time although they were slightly fuller than on the way out.
This was our sixth year participating in National Immunisation Days and our fourth year leading a team. Over this period, we have noticed a change in the role of Rotary Clubs and Rotarians during the immunisation period, namely that the process is now less dependent upon the enthusiasm and effort of Rotarians and that the Indian Government now almost totally runs immunisation. In the early days, we came across very few health workers involved in vaccination, now there are very many health workers involved and also they work out of health centres.
This is of course because the current policy of the Indian Government is to move away from the use of live polio vaccine and for all children to follow a vaccination programme from birth and during their early years.
We met many Rotary Clubs in Kolkata and all of them were very hospitable and welcoming and we thank them for that. We were very impressed with how organised they were and also how they have moved on from simply responding to Polio to running other community health projects.
Will there be another last NID we might wonder? At the time of writing, the answer is “probably yes” but there is some debate as to if it will involve Rotary or if it will be totally run by the Indian Government.
If we can, we will go. We are committed to continue the fight against Polio as long as we are able.
And if you want to watch a 20 minute presentation about Rotary and Polio, click on the above YouTube video.
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