13 Jan 2012

INDIA / POLIO

Today India reached a milestone, not a single case of polio has been reported in 12 months – making it the longest polio-free period in India. UNICEF

Posted at: January 13, 2012 3:23 pm

Duration: 02:41

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STORY: INDIA / POLIO 
TRT: 2:41
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
 
DATELINE: 10 JANUARY 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE - MAY 2011, MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH
 
1. Med shot, child volunteers shouting slogans and saying "we have to wipe out polio"
2. Wide shot, child volunteers walking in an alley and shouting slogans for polio eradication
3. Close shot, little girl is given the Oral Polio Vaccine

FILE - AUGUST 2009, MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH

4. Med shot, health worker taking outside a house, mother and child in the background
5. Close shot, health worker's writing pad
6. Med shot, health workers administers oral polio vaccine to a child in her mother's arms
7. Med shot, health worker marking a house where children have been vaccinated

10 JANUARY 2012, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeffrey Bates, UNICEF Health Communication Specialist:
"India has historically been one of the chief reservoirs for wild polio virus and it also faced some of the most fantastic challenges in terms of population density, of extending services into communities that were under-served on almost all fronts - social and politically."

FILE - 26 MARCH 2001, INDIA

9. Med shot, child crippled by polio walking in the village with his mother walking behind him

FILE – 2000, INDIA

10. Med shot, health workers participate in a polio awareness march
11. Close shot, health worker shouting slogan, saying " not a single child should be missed"

FILE - 26 MARCH 2001, INDIA

12. Med shot, health worker marking a house in a village where children have been vaccinated
13. Close shot, UNICEF's mobile health team giving polio drops to children
14. Wide shot, vaccinator walking in the middle of a village with his kit

FILE - AUGUST 2009, MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH

15. Wide shot, train passing by

FILE – 2000, INDIA

16. Med shot, vaccination team immunizing child against polio with a dose of the Oral Polio vaccine at the train station
17. Med shot, vaccination team immunizing child against polio with a dose of the Oral Polio vaccine at the train station

FILE - MAY-JUNE 2010, INDIA

18. Med shot, crippled child walking, footage from public service announcement
19. Various shots, Television campaign for polio featuring UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan
20. Various shots, Television campaign for polio featuring UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan

JANUARY 2012, NEW DELHI, INDIA

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative, India: 
"Congratulations to the government of India for keeping India polio free for the last 12 months there hasn't been a single case."

FILE – 2000, INDIA

21. Close shot, child suffering from polio playing with colored plates
22. Med shot, child suffering from polio sitting on a chair with leg braces
23. Wide shot, children suffering from polio in school

FILE - 26 MARCH 2001, INDIA

24. Wide shot, mother walking through mud houses with her child

FILE - AUGUST 2009, MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH

25. Close shot, children

12 JANUARY 2012, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

26. SOUNDBITE (English), Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director:
"This is not a moment to relax or to stop the effort or to reduce the amount of effort, it needs the same level of resources, the same amount of commitment to keep it going to truly eradicate polio"

FILE - LONI, GHAZIABAD, UTTAR PRADESH- JUNE 2011

27. Med shot, community health worker at a meeting with mother on the importance of polio vaccination
28. Close shot, mother and child at the meeting with health workers

FILE - AUGUST 2009, MORADABAD, UTTAR PRADESH

29. Med shot, tilt down, from health worker to child

FILE - 26 MARCH 2001, INDIA

30. Med shot, mother with polio gets her child vaccinated for polio
31. Close shot, child receives Oral Polio Vaccine
32. Close shot, child receives Oral Polio Vaccine

STORYLINE:
 
It's an unparalleled victory, a major milestone and arguably, India's greatest public health achievement.

The country is inches away from stopping polio transmission.

Not a single case of the crippling viral disease has been reported over the last year, making it the longest polio free period in India.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeffrey Bates, UNICEF Health Communication Specialist:
"India has historically been one of the chief reservoirs for wild polio virus and it also faced some of the most fantastic challenges in terms of population density, of extending services into communities that were under-served on almost all fronts - social and politically."

As recently as 2009, India had more polio cases than any country in the world but persistent efforts by millions of health workers made the impossible, a reality.

Going door-door in remote villages, heavily populated cities and towns, by road, by water committed volunteers overcame the toughest of challenges.

To reach people on the move, mobile vaccination teams immunized children at railway stations, inside trains, and market places.

Powerful media campaigns featuring Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan led to a wave of change in attitudes, hundreds of thousands of parents were persuaded to get their children vaccinated.

SOUNDBITE (English), Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative, India:
"Congratulations to the government of India for keeping India polio free for the last 12 months - there hasn't been a single case."

The need of the hour is preventing polio transmission from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria– the only other countries where polio remains endemic.

The threat from the deadly viral disease still looms at large, polio anywhere in the world can affect children everywhere.

SOUNDBITE (English), Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director
"This is not a moment to relax or to stop the effort or to reduce the amount of effort it needs the same level of resources, the same amount of commitment to keep it going to truly eradicate polio"

While India steps up efforts to ward off any re-importation of the virus, her monumental success has injected new optimism and enthusiasm in the global fight against this debilitating disease.

Now it's not a matter of if, but when polio will be wiped out completely.