Polio Advocacy Spiritual Foot March

Each year, a group of spiritual leaders from Bareilly district (U.P., India) undertake a foot march to Kaliyar district, Uttrakhand. This yatra (which means a pilgrimage, a journey, or a procession) moves throughout the heartland of India's polio-endemic area. The initiative described here draws on the prominence and influence that these leaders - and this ritual - have, as part of an effort to communicate messages about the importance of immunising children against polio throughout the communities along the caravan's route.

Collaboration and participation of many different sectors are involved in this effort. To begin, the polio partners carried out intensive lobbying with yatra organisers to galvanise their support in making polio eradication a key theme of the yatra. Community members play active roles, too. For example, in March 2007, the 12-day religious parade involved underserved congregates (e.g., children from rural areas) reading aloud spiritual leaders' polio appeals. Prominent personnel lent their voices as well; Chief Medical Officer of Bareilly stood by while a core spiritual leader appealed for oral polio vaccine (OPV) action at the yatra's "flag-off". A bright yellow banner (with green accents) bearing polio messages in red wording was hoisted and carried by participants alongside a green "Qafila" (caravan) flag. Smaller printed banners with polio appeals were distributed to, and carried by, children - who also held the Qafila flags in their other hands. A Rotary International van coloured in the same yellow, green, and red scheme moved along with the march; it carried polio messages as well as a photograph of an Indian child receiving OPV. Each year, the media has also been involved, recording the event through local print and electronic formats. In 2007, one newspaper featured a photograph of one of the key leaders of school of thought which organises the annual spiritual foot march; the photo was surrounded by text boxes describing the integration of integration of polio messages in the yatra.

Organisers explain that these kinds of events are representative of the intensive level of engagement underway in western U.P. to ensure ongoing support from Muslim institutions, networks and community leaders for polio eradication; they are followed up with mobilisation and engagement of local influencers at the neighbourhood level.

Immunisation & Vaccines.

The yatra revolves around a specific Muslim school of thought, which organisers say is quite influential with economically poor, underserved communities in the core areas of India with ongoing polio circulation. Polio has been key message of the foot march since 2004.