Mandela led Africa’s battle against polio

AT the 1998 World Health Assembly, the progress of efforts to eradicate polio in Africa was reported to be very poor and fragmented. Polio was widely prevalent in that continent, paralysing an estimated 75,000 children every year. Then, some countries led the way, supported by robust immunisation programmes initiated by Rotary.

Rotary International invited Nelson Mandela, who had proclaimed freedom of South Africa on April 27, 1994, to launch the ‘Kick Polio Out of Africa’ campaign. Rotary International president Luis Giay and I, chairman of The Rotary Foundation Trustees, were present on the occasion. As the meeting came to an end, I asked Luis to present the ‘No More Polio’ pin to Mandela. Thus, President Mandela developed a bond with Rotary and us. In the evening, there was a celebration with music and dance. Both couples — Luis and Celia, Mandela and Winnie — took part in the dance. We met leaders of other African countries as well. The next day, we went to a football stadium for the formal launch ceremony, where local soccer hero Helman Mkhalele presented a football bearing an image depicting the polio virus to Mandela. Launched by Mandela, the campaign was a watershed moment for polio eradication in Africa. It transformed attitudes, galvanised funding and mobilised governments and populations.

In 1997, Mandela received the Rotary’s Highest Honour Award for World Understanding. At that event, he said, “Polio respects no borders, and as long as even one child suffers, all children are at risk.”

During a visit to South Africa in December 2017, my wife Usha and I went to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned on the charges of sabotage and treason. We saw the tiny dark cell where he was kept for 18 years, sleeping on the floor and using a bucket for toilet. No visitors were allowed except once for 30 minutes in a whole year. Later, he was shifted to Victor Verster prison near Parliament for nine years. These buildings are a silent witness to Mandela’s determination and grit.

We took a tour of the Robben Island Museum and saw the Lime Quarry where Mandela and other prisoners were forced to do manual labour. We also saw the church, which the prisoners visited every Sunday, the courtyard and the small garden tended by Mandela. It was here that he had started writing his autobiography.

Mandela spent more than 27 years in jail before his dream of a free South Africa came true. He was greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for freedom from British rule. It was in South Africa that Gandhi had sowed the seeds of freedom before returning to India. Rightly, Mandela is often called the Gandhi of South Africa.