An impactful initiative to keep India polio-free

India is to a very large extent a polio-free nation today. We all remember the ad campaigns run by the government that had the famous phrase Do boond zindagi ke featuring Big B Amitabh Bachchan’s voice. However, there still remains some remnants of this disease. To highlight the same, The Department of Physiotherapy at Apeejay College of Fine Arts (ACFA) in collaboration with Rotary Club of Jalandhar recently organised an intriguing guest lecture on World Poliomyelitis Day .

The keynote speaker was Dr. Kunj Lalwani, who specialised in pediatrics. Addressing her views on polio, she said, “Even though today we consider India as a polio-free country, still people of a few villages suffer due to ignorance, as polio drops do not reach there. It is an urgent need to create awareness about this so that the whole nation can be made polio-free.” She added, “Parents and baby-sitters have to keep in mind that polio drops and vaccination are very important and should be given to small children on time. So that, they do not have to suffer throughout their life.”

This was followed by an interesting Q&A session as physiotherapy students raised their queries before Dr Kunj, which she answered calmly and in detail.Principal Dr. Neerja Dhingra, while expressing her views on this subject, mentioned that students who will become doctors in the near future, should certainly have detailed knowledge on such subjects so that they can make other people also aware about the problems caused by polio and emphasise the importance of timely vaccination.She also appreciated the efforts of Dr. Neeraj Katyal, Head, Department of Physiotherapy and other faculty members for successfully organising the guest lecture and asked them to keep up with the good work.