| James Kon |
DESPITE the sudden downpour, 170 cyclists gathered at the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien yesterday for the Brunei End Polio Ride 2017.
Organised by the Rotary Club of Bandar Seri Begawan (RC BSB), the ride for the first time was open to the public, riding for the noble cause of raising awareness on the fight to end polio.
Polio is a paralysing and potentially fatal disease, which threatens children in some parts of the world.
Rotary has launched its Polio Plus programme, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Currently, polio still plagues three countries – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Minister of Health cum guest of honour Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi flagged off the End Polio 40km Challenge Ride, before joining the End Polio 10km Fun Ride.
Speaking to the Bulletin, the minister commended the RC BSB’s initiative in organising the End Polio Ride 2017, an effort which began at the grassroots level.
The polio vaccine for children was introduced in the country in 1962, and there has been no reported case of polio since 1978. The Western Pacific Region, including Brunei Darussalam, was declared polio-free in 2000.
The minister highlighted that the challenge has always been to ensure that polio remains eradicated through the raising of public awareness.
As mentioned by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on numerous occasions, a whole-of-nation approach and a whole-of-society approach are needed when it comes to health, as health truly is everyone’s business and the maintenance of the country’s health and wellbeing should not rest solely on the shoulders of the Ministry of Health, but on every individual.
Of prime importance, the minister iterated, is that “we need to move away from the sick model to the health and wellness model in health. It would be much better to see people maintain good healthy lives for a long time.”
The public “must therefore pay extra attention to what they consume, which is still the biggest issue in Brunei. The second thing is physical activities where we can see in the last five years, there has been an increase in physical activities among adults. Let physical activities become a lifestyle and not just recreational pursuits,” he added.
The minister stressed that it is vital for children to carry out physical activities daily as well, and hoped there will be more grassroots-level stakeholders organising similar events to raise awareness on not only infectious diseases, but also non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke and others.
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