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An important turn around
Moulana Akram Mustafa Ayyubi* giving OPV to a Haj traveler on 3rd Nov 2007 at the office of
AL-Mustafa magazine in Firozabad city, at present one of the most sensitive areas in the
polio programme in western U.P.
*Moulana Akram is the Chief Editor of AL-Mustafa magazine, in which he had published a negative article on OPV in
February 2007. The negative article led to a considerable negative backlash for the programme, exacerbated by the death of
a child following immunization earlier this year. UNICEF, Jamia Hamdard and NPSP provided consistent support to the
district health department in advocating with the editor for a reversal of his position. Today, the editor has not only adopted
a positive outlook on the polio programme, but participated in administering OPV to Haj travelers at his own office this
month. 300 pilgrims participated in the event. Firozabad remains a vital link in the effort to keep P1 transmission under
control, given its geographic proximity to the highly sensitive zone of western U.P.
Haj update
Phase 1: In September 2007, OPV was given to the Haj travelers. Out of 30,263 total Haj
pilgrims from UP, 22,114 attended polio advocacy meetings in 44 districts where UNICEF’s
social mobilization network is deployed (73% of total pilgrims in UP); 21,668 Haj pilgrims
attending advocacy meetings received OPV (72% of the total pilgrims from UP).
Phase 2: During this phase in October and November, meningitis vaccine was given to the
Haj pilgrims. During this phase also UNICEF and NPSP supported government in planning
and mobilized the Haj travelers for vaccination. This provided another opportunity for polio
advocacy and its impact on the coverage was seen during the October polio SIA round.
Haj travel: The first contingent of the Haj pilgrims from UP left on 11th November. UNICEF is
distributing local IEC material prepared for health precautions during the pilgrimage and
also polio appeals at different Haj houses in UP. The pilgrims are being requested to say
prayers for polio eradication during their visit to Mecca and Medina.
Haj and advocacy for the November SIA: UNICEF will publish special polio ads in different
newspapers before and during the polio round that starts on 25 November. The ad will
contain the Saudi Directive on OPV with images of male and female pilgrims being
administered OPV.
Polio advocacy on the occasion of Eidul Fitr, in the Bareilly
sub-region. 564,800 people were exposed to polio messages
on 14th October 2007 across the four districts.
Number of Eidgahs/mosques promoting polio during
Eid, Bareilly sub-region, October 2007
• Estimated Eidgahs/ mosques in Bareilly subregion with planned Eid prayers: 1174
• Number of Eidgahs/ mosques where polio
advocacy was planned: 615 (52%)
• Number of Eidgahs/ mosques where polio
messages were delivered during sermons:
577 (49%)
500
450
450
400
400
350
300
280
267
250
200
200
170
156
150
124
90
100
89
75
65
50
0
Bareilly
Baduan
Pilibhit
Shahjahanpur
Estimated Eidgahs/mosques in district
Total Eidgah/mosque with planned polio programme
Total Eidgahs/mosques that delivered polio messages in sermons
Renewed support
Polio advocacy at the All India Jamaitul Quresh Conference on 28th October 2007, Delhi.
Sirajuddin Qureshi (at microphone), re-elected President of the AIJQ, reiterates the AIJQ’s
resolve to continue the fight against polio.
Follow-up:
National & states level Quresh leaders issued passionate polio appeals at this important conclave. These appeals will be
printed and their CDs will be distributed and displayed in Quresh dominated areas of the priority districts in UP in the build
up to the polio SIA at the end of November.
Why Qureshi support is critical
The Quresh community is traditionally organized
around the occupation of slaughtering animals and
trading in meat. It is one of the most underserved
Muslim communities in western U.P., with
consistent reporting of polio cases.
Until early 2006, there were 2,300 openly noncompliant families in Meerut city, most of them were
clustering in localities inhabited by Quresh families.
The health department, UNICEF, NPSP, Rotary,
CORE and other polio partners have made
concerted efforts to mobilize these communities by
engaging with Quresh leadership and institutions.
UNICEF’s SMNet in Meerut has compiled a
directory which has over 1000 names and contact
numbers of key local influencers who have been
supporting vaccination teams, including members of
the All India Jamaitul Quresh.
Through all of these efforts, at present there are
only 400 isolated families in the district who are
overtly or covertly refusing to accept OPV.
Reaching Hindu nomads
Polio advocacy with nomad communities on 28th October, Etah, western U.P., attended by
2,500 people. Important leaders who addressed the participants and appealed for polio
vaccination included Ram Beer Upadhayay (State Minister) and Satish Jatav (Chairman, State
Backward Commission).
Nomad community constitute a small proportion of the Hindu underserved communities. However, they are highly mobile
and their lifestyle expose their children to poliomyelitis. This is one of the few Hindu underserved communities that has
been reporting polio cases in U.P.