Rotary International vows to end polio worldwide

polio

President of Rotary International, Mr. Ravi Ravindran, yesterday said the Rotary would not relent in its commitment to affect the world with a view to making it a better place to live.

Ravindran stated this yesterday during his two-day visit to Nigeria with his wife, Vanaty.

Speaking at a press conference at the Rotary Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, Ravindran also asserted that Rotary International would not relent in its effort to see that endemic polio is stamped out of the world despite various challenges competing with the efforts and goals of the Rotary in this regard.

The Rotary President, who was satisfied with the efforts Rotary International representatives in Nigeria had been making towards removing the nation from the list of the remaining three endemic polio countries, however, lamented over the barriers the club had been encountering in the remaining two endemic polio nations – Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ravindran, who premised the problem hindering total eradication of polio in those countries on Talibans’ continuous frustration of the efforts of Rotary, however gave assurance that the club would not look back despite the hindrances and would soon remove the cog in the wheel of progress Talibans had been constituting in those countries.

He, therefore, advised Nigerian government not to relent in its efforts to remove polio in the country, adding that immunisation of children should continue because a single infection can spread to all over the country and all the efforts of the past would be wasted.

The Rotary International President, who expressed satisfaction with the activities of Rotary in Nigeria and gave kudos to Rotarians in the country, placed Nigeria above all other nations in Africa in terms of commitment to the goal of the club.

He added that Rotary would continue to execute its six major areas of focus, which include peace and conflict, prevention/resolution, peace prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and economic and community development.

Ravindran, who promised to ensure he surpasses his predecessors by ensuring that Rotary is taken to the next level, called on the youths to imbibe the culture of Rotary, sating that they have the enabling power to change the world.