F1 champion on polio drive in Delhi
October 27th, 2011 - 6:13 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) As the Formula 1 (F1) fever grips India ahead of the Indian Grand Prix, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso got the polio drive racing in the capital Thursday.
“Every child deserves the right to run, to play and to live a healthy life without polio,” Alonso, also the Unicef brand ambassador, said on his visit to government Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya (CNBC) in east Delhi.
“Polio is a terrible, crippling disease of children which we can and should eradicate from the planet,” he added.
Hours after arriving in India for the country’s inaugural F1 event, Alonso drove to the pediatric hospital where he spent around an hour interacting with the children.
The speed wizard gifted Diwali presents to children undergoing physiotherapy for paralysis in the hospital’s Child Development Centre.
He also administered oral polio drops to five infants. “It is critical that all Indian children continue to be immunised against polio until this disease has been eradicated all over the world. We all hope that happens soon.”
The Spanish racing driver met children who underwent polio corrective surgery that the CNBC has been offering since November 2007.
Noting that the country has recorded only one polio case this year till now, Alonso lauded the eradication initiatives taken up by India.
The last case was reported from Howrah Jan 13.
Uttar Pradesh, which will host the Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Race Circuit in Greater Noida for three days starting Friday, has not reported any case of polio for over an year.
According to the health ministry, no case of polio has been reported from Uttar Pradesh since April 2010 and from Bihar since September 2010.
- Families refuse polio drops in Bihar - Sep 21, 2011
- A year of no polio: India triumphs, but risks remains - Jan 11, 2012
- Bihar reported no polio case in last one year - Sep 12, 2011
- Community mobilisers inch closer towards making India polio-free - Jan 31, 2011
- A year of no polio: India triumphs, but risks remains (Lead) - Jan 11, 2012
- WHO finds polio virus in Delhi sewage - Feb 15, 2011
- Polio under control but India aims at eradication: Azad - Oct 23, 2011
- Indian firm joins Nigeria's polio battle (With Images) - Feb 23, 2012
- F1 equipment starts arriving in Greater Noida - Oct 18, 2011
- In Uttar Pradesh bylanes, children help fight polio - Feb 03, 2011
- How battle against polio was won in Uttar Pradesh - Jan 24, 2011
- India committed to eradicate polio: Azad - Sep 24, 2011
- 2011 crucial for India to eradicate polio: WHO - Oct 24, 2011
- 100 cases this year, eradicating polio remains big challenge in Bihar - Nov 07, 2009
- West Bengal polio case false alarm, says health ministry - Mar 30, 2012
Tags: bihar, child development centre, cnbc, corrective surgery, diwali, east delhi, eradication, fernando alonso, formula 1, greater noida, health ministry, howrah, nehru, pediatric hospital, physiotherapy, polio, s child, speed wizard, time world champion, unicef