The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Rotary International’s Polio-Free Conclave-2014 today (March 29, 2014) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said our success must make us more vigilant: we will continue to be at risk until the whole world is free of the virus. We will need to keep up our watchfulness and preparedness and take all the precautions necessary to ensure there is no recurrence of this dreadful disease in our country.

The President said viruses and diseases do not respect borders. It is in our interest to assist those populations of the global community that are still vulnerable to polio. We should reach out to such countries that can benefit from our success and experience. Countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, countries in West Africa and even Syria, which are said to be polio infected, can be assisted in many ways. Strategies that brought us success and improve our health systems and infrastructure should be shared. He said as long as the polio virus survives anywhere, it is a threat to populations everywhere.