India has set an example to the world in polio eradication and other countries with incidence of polio could take a leaf out of its book, said Rotary International world president Ron Burton.
Interacting with the media here on Saturday, Burton, who is here to attend a two-day conference of the Rotary International, said this was not the situation 25 years ago. “When the RI decided to embark on polio eradication by assisting the government, we thought it will be done in five years, and then 10. It has taken 25 years to eradicate it.” He also lauded the Indian government for releasing $1.2 billion for the project.
Continuing with its commitment against disease eradication, the RI conducted a vaccination drive at the MGR Janaki College for Women, where nearly 3,000 women were vaccinated for Rubella - a viral disease that infects pregnant women, leading to children being born with several defects.
Burton added that the RI has “youth for the future” as its theme for the year. As part of the same, five conferences are being organised across the world, the first of which is being held in the city, a two-day event, on Saturday and Sunday.
Earlier, in an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, nearly 8,000 people assembled at the YMCA Grounds in Nandanam in the form of a human hand. They claim that this would set a new record.
RI director P T Prabhakar and Rotarian Satyan Bhatt were among those present on the occasion.