Pakistan postal services will issue the commemorative postage stamp of Rs 4 denomination, on October 10, to ensure polio eradication and protect and preserve the health of Pakistani children. Spokesman of Pakistan Post Office (PPO) told APP that exhibitions and commemorative stamps would be issued, while other activities including a display of WPD posters in post offices and mail centres would be held.
Polio eradication is the largest public health initiative in the world involving millions of health workers to rid the world of this disease that once crippled hundreds of thousands of children. In 1988, following a resolution of the world 'health assembly', efforts were initiated to defeat polio through mass immunisation campaigns.
First round of the national polio eradication campaign was held on April 27, 1994. Then Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto launched the drive by administering the first polio drops to her youngest daughter Aseefa, who was 2 years of age then, setting an example for mothers to follow all over the country. Addressing the launching ceremony, Benazir said, "To me, all Pakistani children are like Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa, and although I am the country's Prime Minister, I am also a mother".
Special polio centres were established all over the country, where mothers and caretakers of children up to 5 years of age, came in large numbers to get their children immunised against polio. The campaign then continued through the years, reducing each year the number of Pakistani children who fell prey to the crippling poliovirus.
In the present government's initiative, appointment of Aseefa Bhutto Zardari is a major stride taken. Aseefa was the first-ever child to receive polio vaccination in the country, and will reach out to mothers in Pakistan, appealing them to protect their children from the clutches of disability, by pro-actively participating in each polio campaign.