On the occasion of World Polio Day, Rotary clubs in Butwal organised a public awareness rally on Saturday, taking the message of polio eradication to the streets of the Rupandehi district headquarters. The rally was coordinated by Rotary International District 3292 Nepal-Bhutan Region 5 with the participation of other Rotary clubs of the area. Addressing the event, National Independent Party (Raswapa) lawmaker Gyanu Paudyal described Rotary's contribution to polio eradication as unparalleled in history and said Nepal, along with the rest of the world, aims to eradicate the disease.
A march through the heart of Butwal
The awareness rally began at Gautam Buddha Community Heart Hospital in Ramnagar and moved through some of the busiest points of the city, allowing Rotarians to carry the anti-polio message directly to ordinary people on the streets.
According to the organisers, the procession passed through the following locations:
- Rajmarg Chauraha
- Milanchok
- Butwal Buspark
- Pushpalal Park
Public awareness rallies of this kind are a regular feature of Rotary's observance of World Polio Day, when clubs around the world organise events to remind communities that the fight against polio is not yet over and that vaccination remains the strongest shield against the disease. By routing the march through markets and transport hubs such as the Buspark and Rajmarg Chauraha, the organisers ensured that the campaign reached a wide cross-section of the public, from commuters and shopkeepers to families with young children.
'Unparalleled in history': Paudyal hails Rotary's role
Speaking to participants at the rally, lawmaker Gyanu Paudyal said Rotary's contribution to the eradication of polio had been unparalleled in history, a recognition of the service organisation's decades of fundraising, volunteering and advocacy for a polio-free world.
Paudyal also used the occasion to reaffirm the broader goal, stating that Nepal, along with the world, aims to eradicate polio. Her remarks placed Nepal's own efforts within the global campaign, underlining that no country can consider the task complete until the virus is eliminated everywhere, since polio remains only a plane ride away from any community where vaccination coverage slips.
The presence of an elected representative at a Rotary-organised health event also highlighted the way such campaigns bridge civil society and government, lending public visibility to a cause that depends on both voluntary service and state-led immunisation programmes.
Four decades of the global push to end polio
World Polio Day is observed annually on 24 October, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Jonas Salk, the scientist who developed the inactivated polio vaccine. The day serves as a global reminder of both the progress made against the disease and the work that remains.
Rotary International has been at the centre of that effort. Key milestones in the global campaign include:
- 1985: Rotary launched PolioPlus, one of the earliest and largest privately supported public health initiatives of its kind, mobilising funds and volunteers for polio immunisation.
- 1988: Rotary joined the World Health Organization, UNICEF and national governments to launch the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the worldwide programme dedicated to wiping out the virus.
- Since then, polio cases across the world have fallen by more than 99 percent, with the virus now endemic in only a small number of countries.
Polio, a highly infectious viral disease, mainly affects children under the age of five and can cause permanent paralysis within hours. There is no cure for polio once infection sets in; prevention through vaccination is the only reliable protection, which is why awareness campaigns like the one in Butwal place such emphasis on immunisation.
Nepal's commitment to a polio-free future
Nepal sits within the WHO South-East Asia Region, which was certified polio-free in March 2014, a landmark achievement for a region that once carried one of the heaviest burdens of the disease. Maintaining that status requires sustained routine immunisation, surveillance and periodic vaccination campaigns so that immunity levels in the population never drop low enough for the virus to regain a foothold.
It is in this context that Paudyal's statement that Nepal aims to eradicate polio along with the world carries weight. Continued public engagement, through rallies, school programmes and community outreach by organisations such as Rotary, helps keep vaccination high on the public agenda and reassures parents of the safety and importance of polio drops for their children.
Globally, the task is not finished. Wild poliovirus transmission continues in the few remaining endemic countries, and health authorities warn that until eradication is achieved everywhere, sustained funding and volunteer mobilisation are essential to avoid a resurgence.
Saturday's rally in Butwal, which moved from Ramnagar through the city's main junctions to Pushpalal Park, was a local expression of that worldwide resolve. The organisers' message was straightforward: the extraordinary progress of the past four decades must be carried through to the finish line, and every child vaccinated brings the world, and Nepal, one step closer to a future free of polio.
