Afridi vs Polio
In the hope to finally eradicate Polio from the country the government of Pakistan has appointed international cricket star Shahid Afridi as the official goodwill ambassador for the cause. The campaign “Afridi vs Polio” sets out to eliminate the disease from Pakistan through a widespread awareness and vaccination program. Shahid Afridi expressed his full support and participation in the campaign to help ensure that no child is left unvaccinated and attacked by polio in the future in Pakistan.
Polio is a preventable disease requiring only a vaccine to be given a multiple times in order to shield the child from the disease, for life. It has been wholly eradicated from countries all across the world with the exception of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. These three polio endemic countries are still suffering from child fatality with the past number of victims in hundreds of thousands. Pakistan which was once thought to be finally polio free thanks to the efforts of UNICEF – suffered immensely when the disease showed a resurgence. Unfortunately since then many more children in Pakistan have lost their lives.
Hopefully with this new initiative of the government, along with the well established campaign set out by UNICEF Pakistan, the importance of Polio eradication will be realized in the country. The cricketer, Shahid Afridi, who is originally from a Pakhtoon background and well loved by most in the country, will play a pivotal role in spreading awareness in tribal and rural areas all over the country. Those are the areas where it is especially difficult to administer the vaccine due to its unpopularity with the local people who are not aware and still consider the vaccine as something taboo.
It is to be noted in this regard that people from urban areas have also failed to give enough attention to the subject, if any at all. In order to safeguard the lives of children in Pakistan it is crucial that we support the campaign and highlight the cause to the best of our ability.
It is said that half the fight against Polio is fought through simple awareness.
So join the cause and help spread awareness. Save lives!
For more details, reports and data visit UNICEF Pakistan.
The Afridi campaign can be followed on Twitter.
My personal Twitter handle is: @aownkaz
Syed Aown Shahzad 