14.1.14

Polio free for the third year


India declared itself a polio free country for the third consecutive year without a single new case of the disease and braced itself for the March-end review by WHO to declare the entire southeast Asia region polio free.
“It is a matter of pride for the nation that not a single case of polio has been detected in the three years. This is one of India’s monumental and biggest milestone achieved, through a massive and sustained immunization programme,” health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
“India accounted for half of all the cases of polio reported globally in 2009. Within four and half years, we have been able to eradicate the crippling disease,” Azad said, adding that 36 months ago the last case was reported on January 13, 2011 when a two-year-old girl suffered polio paralysis in Howrah district of West Bengal. In 2009, 741 cases were reported, 42 in 2010 and one case in 2011.
Historically, India has been the largest endemic reservoir of polio in the world with between 50,000 to 100,000 paralytic polio cases occurring each year between 1978 and 1995. It has also been one of the main sources of polio importation for other countries.
Speaking about this important milestone for the country, WHO Representative to India, Dr Nata Menabde, said, “This landmark is a great credit to the strong commitment and leadership of the Government of India.”
“Credit also goes to the government’s strong partnership with WHO, Rotary and UNICEF as also the millions of frontline workers — the vaccinators, social mobilizers and community and health workers — who continue to implement innovative strategies to rid India of polio,” she added.
Three years of being polio free is a notable milestone for the country as a whole, but the success of the immunization and awareness campaign has had a wider impact — with this achievement, it is hoped that soon the entire South-East Asia Region can be considered certifiably free from polio. A commission of experts will meet at the World Health Organization offices at the end of March to analyze the data and determine the polio status for the Region.
An official function to celebrate the occasion will he held on 11 February in which President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and WHO Director General Margaret Chan along with international NGOs will be present.
Polio or infantile paralysis, is a viral, infectious disease which spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route.

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