The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to cash in on the cricket fever to create awareness on polio. Pegged to the cricket series is a polio eradication campaign, a 50-second spot which has the Big B and Sachin Tandulkar advocating the cause.The campaign starts with Amitabh Bachchan saying: ‘‘Jis tarah match jeetney kay liye Tendulkar ka do ya teen run banana kaafi nahin.’’, and Tendulkar completing it with: ‘‘Isi tarah polio ke liye ek ya do baar drops pilana kaafi nahin (Just as it isn’t enough for Tendulkar to make 1-2 runs in a match, giving polio drops once or twice can’t help fight the disease)’’.Both stars then go on to advise people to ‘‘get the children immunised every time there is a pulse polio round’’. According to ministry officials, the spot is ready and is likely to be aired in a few days.‘‘As the cricket fever is on, we thought the campaign would be effective if we related it to the sport. Besides, both Bachchan and Tendulkar have fan following and a spot with them together will leave a good impact. This can make a difference in the April and May rounds,’’ said Dr Sobhan Sarkar, in-charge of the polio eradication programme.According to him, stars like Aishwarya Rai and Tendulkar have been roped in for the campaign. ‘‘This would ensure that people don’t stop seeing it after a certain time,’’ he said.Health Minister Sushma Swaraj has even written to her Pakistani counterpart to utilise the cricket series as a platform to create awareness on polio. The activities may involve statements by the two cricket team captains attacking polio during the toss, mentioning polio during the man of the series award ceremony and distributing T-shirts featuring polio eradication in one section of the stadium, the officials said. Hoardings could also be erected with polio as a theme.
