By IANS,
Kolkata: Union Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed has appealed to West Bengal’s community leaders to cut across faith lines and come together to raise awareness about the benefits of polio vaccine.
“All the religious leaders should come together to spread awareness about the benefits of polio vaccine and ensure that not a single child is left out in the immunisation campaign,” Ahmed told reporters here Friday.
Around 4.5 million children are expected to be immunised in West Bengal’s 11 districts during the June 17 polio campaign.
Ahmed added that although India was no longer on the World Health Organisation’s list of polio-endemic countries, there was a risk of unprotected children in the country getting infected, as the polio virus still existed in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Muslim cleric Mehrab Siddiqi also appealed to the parents to get their children vaccinated.