They may be bitter rivals on the cricket field but the Indian and Pakistani teams have joined hands to battle an enemy that knows no boundary: the polio virus.Beginning tonight on Pakistan Television (PTV) is a public awareness campaign — developed by Pakistani health officials, it’s called ‘Bowl out Polio from India and Pakistan’— which will feature cricket stars of both nations.The campaign clip will be beamed on PTV between 9 and 9.30 pm (Pakistan time) during the highlights of the day’s match and will be repeated everyday while the series is on. Messages will also be aired on Radio Pakistan.The clip will show Sachin Tendulkar spreading the word — he is a polio eradication ambassador in India too — together with VVS Laxman, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar.Sachin can be heard saying ‘‘Let us defeat polio in India and Pak’’ and ‘‘Don’t allow polio to score even a single run.’’ Akhtar will be more direct: ‘‘Uproot polio’s middle stump.’’ Inzamam will tell you: ‘‘Let’s give polio a terrible defeat.’’ And Laxman: ‘‘Together we will run out polio.’’Pakistan officials told The Indian Express that the campaign was planned after Health Minister Sushma Swaraj wrote to her Pakistani counterpart, suggesting that the opportunity be used to generate awareness about polio.Sushma Swaraj’s letter was written at the start of the Indo-Pak tour. While India is Number 2 in the list of polio-affected countries (224 cases in 2003), Pakistan is next with 103 cases last year. Reached over telephone, Dr Rehan Hafiz, National Manager, Extended Programme of Immunisation Pakistan, told the Express: ‘‘The Indian minister started the initiative and we thought we should make optimum use of the opportunity. We have selected PTV because it has a very wide reach and is viewed even in India. Radio also has a wide reach.’’According to Dr Hafiz, the selection of players has been made on the basis on their mass appeal. ‘‘Tendulkar is a hot favourite in Pakistan and even Laxman is a very good player. Both have vast appeal.’’Advertisements with endorsements from both Indian and Pakistani players will appear in all major national dailies from tomorrow. The advertisements will drive home the message that ‘‘India and Pakistan face to face in cricket yet team up against polio.’’Dr Hafiz said he had spoken to both TV and radio commentators and ‘‘they will talk about the polio eradication initiative during the matches.’’ Officials said they are ready, provided they are asked, to share the spots with their Indian counterparts.
