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| The group listens intently on the Polio situation in Murshidabad. |
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| Minister of Health, Jenny, Nancy & Me after our meeting |
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| Jenny showing how to tell if a child is younger than 5 |
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| Jenny & I both have Purple Pinkies |
The situation in Murshidabad is the focus for the World Health Organization as there were nine new cases of Polio in the past year in this small community. Jenny is a consultant for the WHO and has been in India for 15 months and works mainly on a volunteer basis. This community is predominately Muslim and has resisted vaccinating the children, a variety of reasons; some political, some fear. So the Ministery of Health and the WHO are working closely together to get all children vaccinated. All children under the age of five, need to be vaccinated. This area has been holding Sub National Immunization Days for several months.
While a couple of the Polio cases occurred at ages above five it is presumed that by the age of five the children have built up the immunity to the virus, if they have been vaccinated at an early age. I have to admit I was really happy to see Jenny's purple pinkie, someone else who keeps their pinkie purple.
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