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One Year of Polio (poliomyelitis) Free India

Our country on 13th Jan 2012 has touched a milestone of being polio free for on whole year.


  • The lone case of polio in 2011 was detected in a two year old girl in Panchla block of Howrah, West Bengal, with the onset of paralysis on 13th January 2011.
  • The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad said “we are excited and hopeful, at the same time, vigilant and alert”. He cautioned that there is still no room for complacency and we need to ensure no case of polio infection for the next three consecutive years for India to celebrate eradication of poliomyelitis.
  • The Minister noted that the progress is indeed remarkable considering in 2009, India with 741 cases accounted for nearly half the global cases. 
  • In each National Pulse Polio Immunization round, 24 lakh vaccinators under 1.5 lakh supervisors visit over 20 crore households to ensure that the nearly 17.2 crore children, less than five years of age, are immunized with Oral Polio Vaccine. Mobile and transit vaccination teams immunize children at railway stations, at bus stands, market areas, construction sites etc. Around 50 lakh children are immunized by transit and mobile teams during every round in UP, Bihar and Mumbai alone. The polio campaigns during the rest of the year cover polio endemic states and other areas at risk of importation of poliovirus. 
  • India has as yet spent more than Rs 12000 crores on the Pulse Polio Programme. India took a lead in introducing bivalent polio vaccine (bOPV) in January 2010. Despite global shortage of both bOPV and trivalent Polio vaccine, India tapped domestic market for timely supply of vaccine to ensure pulse polio rounds without interruptions. The prorgamme has been in the forefront of adopting technological innovations. The more efficacious monovalent oral polio vaccines were introduced in the Pulse Polio campaigns in 2005 which helped curtail the most dangerous type 1 polio strains to record low levels by 2009. In 2010 the bivalent oral polio vaccine was introduced which helped curtail both Type 1 and Type 3 polioviruses simultaneously and as efficaciously as the monovalent vaccines.
  • The surveillance for poliovirus in India is among the most sensitive in the world. As many as 35,325 reporting sites across the county report Acute Flaccid Paralysis cases for collection of stool samples and testing in the laboratories for poliovirus.
  • As per the recommendation of the India expert Advisory Group on Polio Eradication, every case, anywhere in the country is being responded to as a public health emergency. The lone case of polio in 2011 in Howrah is an example of rapid response – with the first immunization round being held within seven days and three rounds in seven weeks. In contrast, a case the same time in 2010 in Murshidabad, saw the first immunization response in five weeks and three rounds spread over 17 weeks. The rapid and intense response in Howrah helped stop polio transmission and no other case was reported. The program is also a shining example of successful partnership and collaborative work – the strong technical support from WHO - National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP), communication lead by UNICEF and advocacy by Rotary International. The entire government machinery at all levels is geared towards pulse polio immunization.
  • While India has made unprecedented progress, the threat of polio persists. India exported poliovirus to other countries in the past and is now at risk of poliovirus importation into the country through the same migration. The program now not only needs to continue to maintain its present thrust and force, but also further strengthen efforts and be more vigilant. The key challenge now is to ensure any residual or imported poliovirus in the country is rapidly detected and eliminated.

Key-points:

lone case of polio in year 2011
polio immunisation program in India
name of vaccines and main polio strains
role of polio in global context
role of advisory group and international organisation
key challenge

Abbreviations:

bOPV - bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine
NPSP - National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP)
UNICEF - United Nations Child Educational Fund
WHO - World Health Organisation

Important words in Hindi:

Caution - चेतावनी
Complacency - संतोष => there is still no room for complacency -> अभी हमे संतोष नहीं करना है 
Eliminate - हटा देना
Eradicate - उन्मूलन
Immunise - प्रतिरक्षित करना
Imported - आयातित
Progress - तरक्की
Remarkable - उल्लेखनीय
Residual - बचा हुआ
Strain - नस्ल (there are other meanings too)
Vigilant - सतर्क


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