Joint Dinner for Polio 2014
Life as a Polio Survivor
Story and photo from Platinum News
From an early age, Mrs Roshi Razzaq knew that she was different from the rest of the children in her neighbourhood because she was diagnosed with poliomyelitis, commonly called polio, a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease that can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.
Mrs. Razzaq, was a special guest, sharing her story for the first time publicly during a joint meeting at Treasure Isle hosted by the Rotary Club of Road Town and the Rotary Club Sunrise of Road Town to commemorate World Polio Day Day last evening, October 24.
Sharing her story from London via video link from London, Mrs. Razzaq put a face on polio which Rotarians have pledged to eradicate from the world by 2018 through collaboration with UNICEF, Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization.
While polio has been eliminated from the Caribbean region many years ago; however, health officials determine that one child with polio is a risk to children globally.
"I have never experienced walking on two healthy feet," Mrs. Razzaq shared, who has embraced her disability.
"Unfortunately, I was not the lucky one to be saved from polio," she said, commending the work Rotarians are doing to vaccinate children against the disease. Mrs. Razzaq has married, noting that her husband overlooked her disability. Together they have produced two children.
Mrs Roshi Razzaq is a published author of the popular cookbook Indian Low Fat cooking. She is also a prominent playwright and has written several TV dramas that have been produced and televised in Pakistan.
She is currently working on her second cookbook of traditional Indian and Pakistani recipes.
Also addressing the meeting was Dr. Zubair Anwar-Bawany who spoke via video link from Pakistan. Zubair has been working with UN Agencies such as UNICEF in developing smart initiatives and alliances to take on the challenge of Polio Eradication in Pakistan.
As a key conduit between the private sector and the UN, he has leveraged corporate infrastructures to take the battle against polio to the next level.
According to Mrs. Jean Vanterpool, President of the Rotary Club Sunrise of Road Town, monies raised from the meeting will go directly towards polio eradication.
According To Mrs. Vanterpool, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication, in 1985. Since then, she said Rotary and its partners have helped reduce the number of annual cases from 350,000 to fewer than 250 and remain committed until every child is safe from the disease.
Past District Governor, Mr. Vance Lewis said Rotary has contributed more than US$1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $9 billion to the effort.
Mr. Lewis said the Rotary Family in the Virgin Islands continues to contribute to the pio eradication effort. Specific to the Rotary Club of Road Town, he said the club has produced a 'This Close' ad that features Governor John Duncan, OBE and has also erected two 'End Polio Now' public awareness signs, one in the area of the Hosiptal and the other in Fish Bay.
Today, there are only three countries that have never stopped transmission of the wild poliovirus: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Fewer than 250 polio cases were reported worldwide in 2012, which is a 99% reduction since the 1980s, when the world saw about 1,000 cases per day.
If the course is not maintained, experts say polio could rebound to 10 million cases in the next 40 years.