National Polio Immunisation Day

Rotarian Judy Fitz-Hugh, a member of the Rotary Club of Lutterworth Wycliffe and a retired GP, was one of 105 Rotarians from the UK who visited India during February 2016 to assist with the Rotary National Immunisation Day (NID).  Along with her friend and travelling companion, Rotarian Belinda Neuberger (also a retired GP and President of the Rotary Club of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire), they were allocated, along with 10 other Rotarians, to the town of Ludhiana to assist with the immunisation programme. 

Sponsored by the Lutterworth Wycliffe Rotary Club, Judy joined local Rotarians and student nurses to march through the town of Ludhiana to publicise the NID scheduled for the following day.  The nurses carried banners they had made themselves, and a cart blaring out music led the way. The next day was NID day, and so everyone was up early to meet the press for a photo shoot before moving on to their "booths" in groups of 3 or 4.  Coming from a lifetime of working within the NHS, this was not at all what Judy envisaged. Her "booth" was a table set up on a bus station concourse with a cool-box containing vials of polio vaccine and ice.  Her task was then to accost passers-by with a child of under 5, and offer, and then administer the polio drops.  No names, no medical history, no paperwork, no post-immunisation advice or monitoring - just a mark on the little finger of the child's left hand to show they have received the drops (the following day, health workers go from house to house to find those children who were missed on the day).   

Of course, oral polio vaccine is very safe, and this opportunistic approach, together with publicity and information over many years, has led to India being Polio Free since January 13th, 2011.  Unfortunately, there are still cases of polio across the border in Pakistan and Afghanistan, so India has to remain vigilant and maintain their immunisation programme.

This was Judy's first visit to India, and she found it an amazing country full of contrasts, the whole experience being both humbling and rewarding.  Rotary is the largest voluntary service organisation in the world, and by giving up some of her free time in this way, Judy puts into practice the Rotary ethic of Service Above Self.