Honourable Secretary of Health of the Philippines Dr Ona and party,
Distinguished members of the regional certification commission and the national certification committees;
Distinguished representatives of partner agencies;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Over the past day or so, we have seen excellent examples of national polio programmes at work – how they address the twin challenges of maintaining high quality surveillance and providing a strong immunization system.
The Philippines has given us a particularly interesting lesson.
We have learnt how multi-sectoral collaboration can make seemingly impossible projects successful.
But we have also heard warnings from our colleagues in the European Region about what can happen if immunisation coverage drops and surveillance gaps are allowed to develop.
More encouragingly, I think we were all impressed by the decisive response taken by Mongolia when polio returned to its neighbourhood.
The lesson there is that every country must have a plan of action ready for the threat of an importation of wild poliovirus.
We also heard how the last push towards global eradication is defined in the 2010-2012 strategic plan.
Already, we are seeing the fruits of that effort in Nigeria and India.
That, too, is most encouraging.
Time now for some thank-yous.
I would like to extend my deep gratitude for the support we have received from the Rotary International Polio Plus Committee, from Rotary International Japan District 2650, Rotary International Philippines District 3810 and UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
My great appreciation goes to our special partners and in particular the Shinnyo-en Foundation.
I thank the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg and the United States of America for their continued support.
I particularly appreciate the Government of Japan for supporting this meeting.
I would also like to thank the Honourable Secretary of Health of the Philippines for attending our celebration today, representing the continued commitment of our Member States.
I extend my sincere gratitude to all National Certification Committees and encourage you to continue with your expert guidance to national programmes.
I would also like to thank the ministries of health of our Member States and everybody else who works so hard to end the scourge of polio.
Ladies and gentlemen, the end is in sight.
But the last stretch of a marathon is the toughest.
That's when a special effort is needed to get to the finishing line. Please join us as we make that effort.
[Playing of video "Reasons to act"]