Rotary International on Saturday conferred this years Polio Eradication Champion Award on Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Rotary International on Saturday conferred this year's Polio Eradication Champion Award on Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss.
This award was given in recognition of Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss's "outstanding efforts in reducing the number of polio cases in the country and for his ministry's support for polio eradication programmes in India".
" I have received half the award today and the other half when we do away with polio. On the contrary, this award should have been given to Rotary...or from the government to the Rotary because of the exemplary leadership of what Rotary has done on polio," Ramdoss said after receiving the award.
The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International established the Polio Eradication Champion award in 1995. The Award recognizes past achievements and the promise of continuing activity and improvement from individuals to make the world polio free.
"The good news is that type one virus, in fact has not been found in the last eight months in UP, which is the hub of all these viruses," he informed.
Leaders who have been honoured with Rotary's Polio Eradication Champion Award include past United States President William Jefferson Clinton, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major and Tony Blair, First Lady of Egypt, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of Angola Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's Minister of Economic Development and Cooperation, Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary-General,rofessor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Gates foundation co-chair, Bill Gates Sr. and the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
India had around 83 per cent of the global cases of polio during 2002. As on July 3 this year, India has reported 87 out of 183 cases reported globally in 2007.
ANI