Mother's vision, daughter's mission

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari is working to finish what her mother started.

ON 27 April 1994, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari became the first Pakistani child to be immunized in the polio eradication effort when, as a one-year-old, she was given two polio drops by her mother, the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.Fifteen years on, 16-year-old Aseefa is to be officially unveiled as Pakistan's Ambassador for Polio Eradication at the launch of the country's upcoming National Immunization Days (NIDs) on Saturday, 10 October in Islamabad. It is expected that the announcement will be attended by the President (and proud father), Asif Ali Zardari, all four provincial Chief Ministers and the Ministers of the Interior, Communications, Education and Religious Affairs.To mark Aseefa's appointment, a 5 Rupees stamp featuring the photograph of Mrs Bhutto immunizing her youngest daughter has been commissioned by the Pakistan Ministry of Postal Services and distributed through 13,000 post offices across Pakistan.In her new role, Aseefa will be tasked with advocating for the polio eradication effort and mobilizing communities to ensure all parents get their children vaccinated against polio. Her efforts honour the vision of her mother, Benazir Bhutto, who, after immunizing Aseefa at the very first NIDs, declared: "I consider the children of Pakistan as my own - to me they are like Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa." Health Minister Ejaz Hussain Jhakrani said that Aseefa's involvement in the polio eradication effort would motivate millions of Pakistanis to support the campaign. “This will reflect that she is carrying forward the legacy of Benazir Bhutto, who launched the first campaign by giving her youngest daughter polio drops,” Jhakrani said. At the National Immunization Days to be held from 12-14 October, 34 million children under five will be immunized with trivalent oral polio vaccine. In 1994, an estimated 23,000 Pakistani children were paralysed or killed by polio. This year, until the end of September, 58 cases of polio have been reported countrywide.