A girl shows her finger mark after getting oral polio vaccine in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh. The child is part of a nomadic group attending religious congregation. Tracking and immunizing migrant and mobile population is crucial for the polio eradication programme in India. Constantly on the move, the nomads miss polio and routine immunization and are at risk of getting polio. Credit: UNICEFIndia/Nizamuddin/2011
India achieves major milestone, no polio case for one year
On 13 January 2012, India has reached a major milestone in the history of polio eradication – a 12-month period without any case of polio. This date marks the unprecedented progress in India and an endorsement of the effectiveness of the polio eradication strategies and their implementation in India. Once all specimens from acute flaccid paralysis cases and sewage samples up to mid-January are tested in the laboratories and no wild poliovirus is detected, India will come off the WHO list of polio endemic countries.
In 2009 India had more polio cases than any other country in the world (741). In just two short years, India has taken a giant step towards ending polio globally forever.
India overcame huge challenges to stop transmission of polio, including its high birth rate, large population, hard-to-reach migrant communities and resistance to oral polio vaccine in high-risk populations, and its progress is proof-positive that polio eradication can be achieved anywhere in the world, even in the most challenging conditions.
The Polio Eradication Programme in India is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), WHO’s National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP), UNICEF, Rotary International, and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control.
The programme aims to eradicate polio from India by immunizing every child under five years of age with the oral polio vaccine. India, together with Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, is one of the four polio-endemic countries left in the world.
Tremendous progress has been made in the last few years to interrupt polio transmission in India. The number of polio cases dropped to a record low of 42 in 2010 compared with 741 in 2009.
In 2011, India has had only one case of polio, in January in Howrah district of West Bengal. The traditional polio endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have not reported any cases of polio this year.
Uttar Pradesh, the epicenter of almost all poliovirus outbreaks in the country, has not reported any case of polio since April 2010. Bihar has not reported any case of polio since September 2010.
Closer to eradication, now every case of polio in the country will be treated as a public health emergency. In West Bengal an emergency response has been rolled out by the government and polio partners; efforts to mobilise the community for polio vaccination has been scaled-up and rapid and large-scale polio immunization rounds are being carried out to protect children against polio and prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the state and the country.
The more efficacious monovalent oral polio vaccine and the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which protects against both circulating strains of polioviruses – type 1 and type 3, are being used in the ongoing polio immunization campaigns in West Bengal and the supplementary immunization campaigns in the polio endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and other polio high-risk areas
The Bulawa Toli Bulawa toli is a group of young volunteers who mobilise community for polio immunisation on the polio booth day. These these young advocates run house-to-house shouting slogans and blowing whistles to draw attention of the children and parents to the polio booth.
Eradicating Polio UNICEF is working with the district health department and Dargah Committee in district Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that every child coming to the Mela is immunized and large scale awareness about the polio prevention is raised..
Polio: no place too far This photo feature demonstrates the enormous challenge in reaching children in the high risk areas of Bihar. The trip to Sunita, a polio-affected child in Saharsa in the Kosi river area, was undertaken by SMNet Bihar team members.
Fighting Polio In 2009, 66 per cent of polio cases nationally occurred in children under two years of age. About 230,000 children are born each month in Bihar, and in U.P., over 400,000 children are born each month
Polio eradication efforts strengthened during religious occasions Polio Advocacy week was held in Patna, Bihar from February 27 – March 4, 2010 during hafta-e-rehmat (The Blessing Week) to overcome resistance towards repeated rounds of polio immunisation and other communication issues surrounding Polio Eradication.
Traditional healers become influencers in Bareilly Traditional healers play an important role in influencing community health decisions and also provide invaluable access to primary health care in underserved areas
Reaching Out To Mobile Populations With over 15% of polio cases in 2009 emerging from migrant communities, reaching these communities remains a crucial link to securing eradication in India
Two states and 100 blocks away from polio-free India UNICEF India Representative, Ms. Karin Hulshof in conversation with Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD) (India) talks about the Polio Eradication Initiative in India
Mother- Baby get-togethers Held in all the SMNet blocks of Meerut district, prior to each round of the polio immunization drive, these meetings educate pregnant women on early and exclusive breastfeeding and also encourage lactating mothers to have their babies weighed.
Cricket Champs Advocate to Bowl out Polio Cricket aces championed the cause of polio eradication in Lucknow on the eve of the Ranji Trophy match between Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on November 23, 2009.
Profile of a Special Influencer Over the past four years, Nadeem has been a permanent fixture at the polio booths during the polio rounds in Kandhla block of Muzzafarnagar
“May Allah bless us … and may polio be eradicated from the world…” “May Allah bless us and our children with good health…...and may polio and other dreadful diseases be eradicated from the world. We will pray at Makkah Mukarramah for this”, said Hazrat Syed Shah Shamim Munawi, Sazada-Nashin-Khan-Ka-Munamiya of Patna city
Winning against polio with Razda Begum Razda Begum sits with her decorated white chart paper which has the Mohallah Sufi Khan in Farrukhabad mapped out with its masjids (mosques), public facilities, the “grids” within the area and the “influencers” who work for the polio eradication programme
Mecca-bound Pilgrims call for end of Polio Javed Mian, 65, is a small-time businessman in the Sabzi Bagh locality of Patna, the capital city of the eastern Indian state of Bihar.
Moradabad celebrates win against Polio with Hockey It was not only time for celebration but also time for re-dedication to the cause of polio eradication as former hockey Olympians Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillai, among others, signed a pledge for polio eradication
Babille Story Irene Babille is a student at the American International School in New Delhi. Earlier this year, she participated in India’s National Polio Eradication Programme, as part of her schools’ community outreach effort...
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Amitabh Bachchan's video on polio
