Administrating polio drops to the children at the President’s House on Monday, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, who is Pakistan ambassador for polio eradication, emphasised the need for collective partnership and volunteerism in order to root out the crippling disease from the country. Addressing a special function to mark the partnership of Benazir Support Programme (BISP) with the polio eradication campaign in the country, she rued the fact that Pakistan was among the few countries which were not polio free. But she expressed the commitment to face the challenge. Praising the efforts made by the BISP, Aseefa said the partnership was aimed at taking the polio eradication programme to the marginalised and poor in the far-flung areas.
She said the polio eradication initiative was first launched by the government of her mother Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. “She was the first prime minister to have personally administered polio drops to a Pakistani child who child was no other than me – standing here before you,” Aseefa recalled while promising to carry forward the mission of her great mother. She said Pakistan had come a long way since 1994, when the polio eradication campaign was first launched formally and the polio cases were reduced significantly which at that time more than 30,000. “Our aim is to make Pakistan completely polio free.” “We aim that no child lives with the fear of being crippled for whole life.”
Aseefa for commitment to polio eradication
