US Appreciates India's Role in Eradicating Polio

The US applauds India's role in eradicating polio and the joint effort by both the countries towards ensuring child survival, US representative to the United Nations Susan Rice said here Tuesday. "I appreciate India's role in eradicating polio," Rice said at the US embassy here to highlight the Call For Action initiative against child mortality led by India, Ethiopia and the US.

The Call For Action is a commitment by the countries to try and stop deaths of children below five years of age.

Rice said a contest would be launched next month for children aged 8-14 years as part of the effort.

US Ambassador Nancy Powell inaugurated a bust of Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at Roosevelt House (the official residence of the US ambassador in New Delhi) to mark the 60th anniversary of the former first lady's visit to India.

Eleanor Roosevelt, the founder of Unicef, had visited India as a guest of the Nehru family in the 1950's.

Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Krishna Tirath reaffirmed India's commitment for ensuring better child health through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme and thanked the US for its cooperation. "We are trying to address the problem of malnutrition through 1.5 million ICDS centres," said Tirath.

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Union minister Farooq Abdullah, chairperson of National Commission on Minorities Wajahat Habibullah, former foreign secretary M.K. Rasgotra, the centre's interlocutor on Jammu and Kashmir Radha Kumar, actor Anil Kapoor, and socialite author Shobha De were among those who attended the reception.

Source-IANS