After apprising India with ‘What Women Want’ through her radio show, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan is now making sure that every child in the country gets vaccinated.
Herself a mother of a two-year-old boy, Kareena stressed on the need to ensure that every child gets vaccinated regularly at the launch of Swasth Immunised India, a year-long campaign initiated by Network18 and Serum Institute of India, at Mumbai’s Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday.
Adar Poonawalla, President, Vaccine Manufacturers Association of India and CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII), Natasha Poonawalla, Executive Director, SII, and Dr Nitin Shah, section head of pediatrics department at PD Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai were also present at the event.
On her becoming the campaign’s ambassador, Kareena said, “I feel my life is in Taimur’s hands. If a mother can protect her child in any way, why shouldn’t she? The idea is to educate people, make them believe in immunisation and vaccination. It was an absolute no brainer for me to be a part of this.”
Talking about the need to rope in a celebrity to promote the initiative, Adar said, “We are supposed to trust the medical fraternity but sometimes you need that additional push. These are the icons that people look up to and when they speak, the public generally tends to agree and listen.”
“On this platform, we have leading paediatricians and celebrities speaking in one voice so that it’s impartial, unbiased and it can drive the message home,” he added.
Highlighting the power of having a Bollywood star on board, Dr Shah said, “If Kareena says a vaccine is safe, it is safe whether I say it or not.”
Adding to it, Kareena said, “I think that’s the case with the polio campaign as well. People would hear Mr. Bachchan sternly tell them to take their children for polio drops. They feared that if they didn’t, he would get angry. Now, look at it today. We have almost eradicated it completely.”
