Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani at the Rotary International District 3300 Awards Night.
1. Top 3 PolioPlus giving club.
2. Outstanding Club President (posthumous): Sunil Shetty
3. Outstanding Young Rotarian: Arvind U Gopi Kumar
4. Best Facebook Page.
5. EREY "Every Rotarian Every Year" Club. 
6. PHF and multiple PHFs, Sooria, Dato Dr Subramaniam, Sarkuru, Dr Rajesh, Dr Bernard.
Congratulations to all in RCBSP and Rotary International District 3300 who have worked hard, true to our motto "Service Above Self". Thank you, DG Dr Manohur!

OCT 24 is World Polio Day. For most of us, the only time we talk about polio is at the paediatrician’s clinic when the doctor or nurse tells us about the polio vaccine. It was a part of our distant past. The last case in Malaysia was in the year 2000. Yet our children still need polio vaccines. Why?

This is because polio infections still occur in some unvaccinated parts of the world. So far in 2016, there have been 27 cases of wild polio in the world (15 in Pakistan, nine in Afghanistan and three in Nigeria). This is a far cry from 1988 when there were 350,000 cases a year.

However, in today’s world, polio is just a flight away. The virus could spread globally if we let our guard down. When polio is eradicated in every corner of this planet, we can rest easy and concentrate our resources to fight another disease.

How did polio eradication become a worldwide agenda? In 1978, Rotary International President Clem Renouf initiated a five-year vaccination campaign in the Philippines. It was a major success which spurred the formation of PolioPlus by The Rotary Foundation to fund a worldwide polio eradication programme. Eventually, this grew into the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) involving WHO, Unicef, United States Centers for Disease Control, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (yes, Bill Gates of Microsoft) and Rotary International. This group funds and conducts activities to supplement the governments of the world to protect all children from polio, responds quickly to outbreaks, runs laboratories to identify and monitor polio viruses and plans for post-eradication programmes such as shifting from oral polio to injectable polio vaccines.

The three areas where polio infections still occur are the most hazardous to vaccination workers due to insurgencies in some localities and distrust in vaccines. In Pakistan, 70 health workers were killed in polio vaccination campaigns from 2012 to 2015. As a result of heightened security involving 10,000 police personnel and public information campaigns, there has been no attacks this year. Hopefully, this will enable vaccination to be carried out more comprehensively.
What will the cost of the GPEI be? This year, it is estimated to cost US$1.5bil. Although Rotary started the fund rolling, many other partners have since joined hands to fund this effort, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, US and British governments, and the Islamic Development Bank/Government of Pakistan. Rotary consistently contributes to about 10% of the amount each year.

In a world which is so close to eradicating polio completely, we have some pockets of resistance to vaccination even in Malaysia. We need to be educated regarding the consequence of a lapse in vaccination, besides the safety of the polio vaccine, in order to ensure a high level of vaccinated children. This was exemplified by Nigeria, which had no polio infection for more than a year but it has now recurred in the remote Borno region. We must not reject vaccination for our children.

We look forward to the day when all children in the world can stop receiving polio vaccines because polio has been eradicated. We are now so close to that day.
​
ROTARIAN DR BERNARD CHAN
Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani
​

Dear friends,

I am pleased to present to you the 3 Pillars of Rotary Seminar to be hosted by the Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani this 1st and 2nd February 2013 at Cinta Sayang Resort, Sungai Petani.

For the first time ever, we have the Zone 6B Rotary Foundation Coordinator PDG Muhammad Faiz Kidwai who will be attending the seminar to share his extensive knowledge with you. It will be a great honour to have him with us so please do not miss out and send in your registration forms ASAP.

Kicking things off on Friday, 1 February 2013 will District Public Relations Chairman, PP Dato' Ram Nair and his team comprising IPP Thangaraj and PE Datin Sandra. Also do not miss a special session onRotary Brand Revitalisation by PDG Dr Rajindar Singh.

Leading our The Rotary Foundation team will be our District's first and only Arch C. Klumph Society member, PDG Dato' Jimmy Lim Thaw Chay. Come listen to PDG Dr Rajindar speak on Grant Management under the new Future Vision Plan. This will be the first presentation by PDG Dr Rajindar upon his return from Chicago so you have a chance to be among the first to get the latest information on Grant Management and other updates.

Do not pass up the opportunity to witness the new tag team duo in action, PP Ken Ong and PP Dr Baskaran, who are Membership Development & Retention and Extension Chairs respectively. Also in attendance to speak to you is the man behind our recent successfully organised Selangor Institute, PDG Dr Arasu.

Last but not least, come meet PP Esther Tan who will be busy promoting the District TRF Night!!!

District Governor Mansoor Saat has consented to grace the occasion so come join us, listen to a fantastic group of speakers and Rotarians and enjoy the friendship and fellowship at Cinta Sayang Resort.

The members of the provisional Rotary Club of Langkawi are also attending the seminar, so this is your chance to meet the newest members of our Rotary family.

All for only RM60.00 person which includes a fellowship dinner on Friday, 1 February 2013, and 3 meals on Saturday, 2 February 2013.

For those outstation Rotarians, rooms at Cinta Sayang Resort are only RM169.00 nett on twin sharing basis.

As 1 February 2013 is a public holiday in the Federal Territories, Sungai Petani is the place to be forthose looking for a family holiday. Shopping malls and cinemas are just 5 minutes away and a water theme park, The Carnivall, is right next to Cinta Sayang Resort. For the more adventurous, Haatyai is nearby to the north and Penang to the South.

For those who love sports or the outdoors, Cinta Sayang Resort offers golf, squash, tennis, horse riding and even paintball.

So, come on everyone, kindly fill up the registration form and send it to 3pillarsofrotary@gmail.com now or contact me at 012-4773949/arvind7@mail.com for more information.

See you all in Sungai Petani.

Thank you.


Best regards,

PE Arvind U Gopi Kumar
Organising Chairman
3 Pillars of Rotary Seminar
Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani

Thanks to IPP BH Lee (Rotary Club of Kulim) for the following slides...