Mr K Desiraju, Health Secretary, Government of India and Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India felicitated Ms Martha Dodray, a health worker from Darbhanga, Bihar, on receiving the Global Leadership Award by the UN Foundation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America.
The award, conferred on 6 November 2013 at New York, is a tribute to polio workers worldwide.
The Global Leadership awards recognize individuals and organizations for their outstanding leadership in furthering the purposes of the United Nations Charter and advancing UN causes—from global health and economic development, to human rights and environmental sustainability.
The UN Foundation, this year, has recognized the contribution of frontline polio workers, who visit the world’s most challenging areas to honour their commitment to vaccinating those that live with the threat of contracting the crippling disease.
Innovative strategies adopted by the India program, with support from WHO, UNICEF and Rotary International, have resulted in no wild poliovirus being detected in the country since January 2011.
Commending Ms Dodray, Mr K Desiraju said, “India’s success in polio eradication has inspired the world.”
“We recognize and acknowledge the efforts of the frontline polio workers for their dedication and commitment to the cause,” he added.
Congratulating Ms Dodray, Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India, said, “We salute the efforts of every polio worker for going beyond their call of duty. It is their efforts, despite the odds, that have contributed very substantially to India’s success against polio.”
Dr Menabde also urged that in view of the new outbreaks in the erstwhile polio-free regions, it would be important to maintain the highest level of vigil against the risk of wild poliovirus importation.
“We cannot let our guard down,” she said.
Martha is posted in Kusheshwar Asthan East Public Health Centre since 2005. During each polio campaign, she travels on foot for 17 kilometres to Golma, where she stays away from her family.
She has to walk for five to six kilometers on foot every day during the polio campaign, sometimes in neck deep waters to make sure that the polio vaccine reaches all beneficiaries in her vaccination area in time.
This polio eradicator, in her humble efforts, ensures that no eligible child is left unvaccinated in her vaccination area.
During each nation-wide polio campaign in India, 2.3 million vaccinators reach nearly 170 million eligible children with the polio vaccine, and are ensuring that high population immunity is sustained in the country. India is now utilizing the experience gained from polio eradication to strengthen routine immunization.