WHO says 80% of world’s population now lives in virus-free regions.
NEW DELHI:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially certified India among 10 Asian countries free of polio, a milestone lauded as a ‘momentous victory’. A jubilant Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad received the WHO certificate on Thursday.
“India has been polio-free since January 2011,” he said. “India embarked on the programme to eradicate polio 19 years ago, when the disease used to cripple more than 50,000 children in the country every year.”
India joined Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and East Timor among the list of countries free of the polio virus – the WHO said this certification meant 80 percent of the world’s population lived in polio-free regions.
The certification is particularly significant in India, home to 1.2 billion people, and which until 2009 still accounted for half of all cases globally. India reported 150,000 cases of paralytic polio in 1985, and 741 new infections that led to paralysis in 2009. In the following year, the number of new victims fell to double figures before the last case in January 2011. India’s poor sanitation, mass internal migration and dilapidated public health system made many experts believe it would be the last country to eradicate the disease, if at all.
“This achievement has been possible with resolute will at the highest levels, technological innovations like the indigenous bivalent polio vaccine, adequate domestic financial resources and close monitoring of the polio programme, with which immunization levels soared to 99 per cent coverage. A 2.3 million-strong team of polio volunteers and 150,000 supervisors worked day and night to reach every child,” Azad said.
The health minister expressed his gratitude to the WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other stakeholders including the parents of the children vaccinated. Describing the eradication of polio as an impressive achievement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attributed gave credit to strong political will, financial commitment and a robust oversight of the strategy adopted by the government.
However, WHO Southeast Asia regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh cautioned, “Until polio is globally eradicated, all countries are at risk and the region’s polio-free status remains fragile.” Isolated outbreaks in the Horn of Africa and Syria emerged as new causes for concern in 2013, and polio vaccination workers in Pakistan are still being targeted.
Meanwhile, Iraq reported its first suspected polio case in 14 years, that of a young boy in Bab al Sham near Baghdad. On Wednesday, the health ministry said it suspects the case’s origins lie in neighbouring Syria. A ministry official said the case is not yet confirmed and samples have been sent to the United States for further testing, with results expected on Sunday.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2014.
COMMENTS (15)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Something important that is not mentioned in the article is the support of Indian Ulema to the polio program.
Even in India, like elsewhere, some paranoid Muslims had spread the news during the last 90s that polio is a conspiracy to make Muslim women infertile.
The government did manage to get the help of Ulema to support the program.
@kdp: "I am surprised that they appointed Muslim as Health Minister and trusted him ..."* Perhaps you will be even more surprised when I tell you that he is a Kashmiri and is one of the handful of cabinet ministers in the Indian government much respected and admired. He is not in the news often but when he is so, it is for the most positive reasons, never in a negative sense.
I am surprised that they appointed Muslim as Health Minister and trusted him to work with Polio vaccination movement!!
@Roshan: Strategic assets?
Its heard that polio workers are killed in Pakistan. Who are the people who do not want this deadly disease eradicated? They need to be singed out and counselled.
Is there any responsible Govt in Pakistan ? This country born out of hatred and treachery is a failed State, killing all religious minorities and haven to terrorists. Because of the prevalence of this deadly virus they can successfully infect all other countries, another ugly head of terrorism. The Western countries and of late China have propped this uncivilized country, a threat to civilization.
This shouldn't have happened if we also had TTP kind of organizations on our side.......
Though I am happy that India has been able to eradicate polio, I would even more happy if India does not become complacent. Polio vaccinations should continue for many more years or decades.
In order to be Polio-free, Pakistan should first be Taliban and their political supporters free.
It's a historic victory for taliban "mujhahideen" in their "jihad".
Congratulations India. Organization is the key to success. Eradicating polio in a country which is beset with poverty, casteism, high population, unhygienic conditions, whatnot.. is no mean feat.
Just goes to show that India has evolved to a certain point that if it truly wants to achieve something it can do so.