India still runs Pulse Polio campaign to eradicate crippling disease
On Saturday 18th January, the Rashtrapati Bhavan became the place of a polio vaccination drive to mark the outset of this year’s Pulse Polio Programme. The Union Health Ministry has begun the campaign to check the disease that affects children at a young age. The episode saw President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan administering the vaccine drops to infants.
“India is free from polio but the disease still persists in some countries and it may come back. Make sure every child under 5 years of age gets polio drops,” tweeted the National Health Portal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines poliomyelitis or infamous polio as “a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented by immunization.”
Following the episode, the 1st phase of Intensive Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPM) program began in 19th January across Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh region, operating polio vaccination drops to infants throughout the region in the age bracket of 0-5 years. Around 948568 infants were given polio drops in Kashmir division, whereas 758741 children were vaccinated against the crippling disease. Respective divisional and district administration have made required arrangements to cover all the infants in the particular age group mentioned before. Health workers and volunteers shall carry out door-to-door visits in next two days in their assigned areas, ensuring no infant is left out of the vaccination programme.
India started the Pulse Polio immunization programme in 1995 after a resolution was passed for a global initiative of polio eradication that was adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1988. Children in the age group of 0-5 years are vaccinated during national and regional rounds every year, especially in high-risk areas.
In January 2011, the last polio case in the country was recorded from Howrah district of West Bengal, according to the Ministry of Health. On 24th February 2012, WHO repealed India from the list of countries with the active endemic wild poliovirus transmission. Two years later, India was certified as polio-free by the South-East Asia Region of the WHO. “The Commission concludes, from the evidence provided by the National Certificate Committees of the 11 Member States, that the transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus has been interrupted in all the countries of the Region,” quoted the Regional Certification Commission (RCC) on March 27, 2014.
All states and Union Territories have developed Rapid Response Teams (RRT) under the Pulse Polio programme to prevent any polio outbreak in the country. Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans (EPRP) have also been formed by states, indicating precaution to be undertaken in case of detection of a polio case.
Since March 2014 the Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) was made obligatory for those travelling between India and polio-affected countries such as Nigeria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Kenya, Somalia, Cameroon and Syria.
In 2002, UNICEF signed the infamous Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan to be the ambassador for the programme in India. Since then the most famous celebrity has been the face of the polio programme. His appearance to the masses via TV and radio spots, beamed across India ahead of each polio phase, helped the community to support the polio booths. Along with Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign also featured a number of other Bollywood stars and cricketers.
