Global News Post: Polio

Polio Mostly Eradicated Globally

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By
Jessica Berman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The
global scourge of polio has been virtually eradicated, reaching historically
low numbers this year.  But pockets of
the disease remain in South Asia and <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>
because of the refusal of some parents to immunize their children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">International
public health officials counted 177 polio cases worldwide for the first ten
months of this year.  That’s a drop from
just over 500 cases in 2011.  Public
health officials credit the drop to successful immunization campaigns against
the illness, which attacks the nervous system and can cause partial or total
paralysis.  The malady has disappeared
from most countries where it was once epidemic. 
For example, in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
there have been no cases of polio reported in two years.  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
in neighboring <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>, and in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region>,
<st1:place w:st="on">West Africa</st1:place>, reservoirs of the viral illness
remain. Experts say that is due to the refusal of many parents to vaccinate
their children against the infection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Anita
Zaidi is head of pediatrics at <st1:placename w:st="on">Aga Khan</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Karachi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
She says intensive public health efforts are underway to vaccinate children
against polio.  But she says the gains
are fragile in some areas and among some ethnic groups, particularly among the
country's Pashtun community.  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Zaidi
says 74 percent of Pashtun children go unvaccinated because many parents believe
the immunization is harmful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“They
believe that it can cause sterility in their children or that it’s a conspiracy
to sterilize Muslim populations so that their population growth falls, or they
believe in the ..value of a vaccine so they think it’s not harmful but it won’t
do anything so why take it," she said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Polio
is acquired through contact with feces-contaminated water.  Often, Zaidi says, infected children don’t
develop symptoms right away so they are unaware that they are exposing other children
to the disease. This scenario is common in very dense urban slums, where the
availability of clean water is low.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But
polio is easily preventable with a series of oral vaccines beginning in
infancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Zaidi
says the key to a successful vaccination campaign in these pockets of polio
infection is to engage members of the community to help.  <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“So
that is you have a refusal, [so] you get somebody from that community that
you’ve built up trust with, that the community has built up trust with, and you
get them to talk to the family," she said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Pediatrician
Anita Zaidi presented a progress report on polio eradication efforts at a
meeting this week of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Polio Mostly Eradicated Globally

By Jessica Berman The global scourge of polio has been virtually eradicated, reaching historically low numbers this year. But pock...

India No Longer in Polio Endemic Countries’ List: Azad

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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">PM Inaugurates the Polio Summit 2012<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">at the inauguration of the Polio Summit 2012, in New <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">February 25, 2012. The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Sudip Bandyopadhyay and S. Gandhiselvan are also seen. Photo © PIB<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">NEW DELHI</span></st1:city><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> (PIB) --- WHO has taken <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>’s name off the list of polio endemic countries in view of the remarkable progress that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> achieved by being polio free for the past one full year. The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad shared this important development today in the presence of Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh at the inaugural of the two day Polio Summit 2012 in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city>. The Polio Summit organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Rotary International also saw participation of Federal Minister for Interprovincial Coordination, Government of Pakistan, Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani; Minister of Health and Population, Government of Nepal Rajendra Mahato; Deputy Minister of Health, Government of Sri Lanka, Lalith Dissanayaka; Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare,  Sudip Bandyopadhyay and  S Gandhiselvan, Secretary Health and Family Welfare  P K Pradhan, Rotary International President Mr. Kalyan Banerjee and The Rotary Foundation Chairman Mr. William Boyd as also subject experts from developing partners who have gathered at the Summit to renew and reinforce their commitment to eradicate polio in India. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Reaffirming the commitment of <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> to achieve full immunization, Dr Manmohan Singh said “We must ensure that every Indian child, rich or poor, whether living in Ladakh or in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> has equal access to the best immunization. To this ambitious task I commit our government”. He noted that the coordinated efforts of the Government of India with close partnership of States Governments, international organizations and groups including the Rotary International, the World Health Organization and UNICEF and the 23 lakh volunteers as also supervisors, has helped to rid our country of the terrible scourge of Polio. The Prime Minister said “it is a matter of satisfaction that we have completed one year without any single new case of polio being reported from anywhere in the country. This gives us hope that we can finally eradicate polio not only from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> but from the face of the entire mother earth. The success of our efforts shows that teamwork pays”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Dr Manmohan Singh also emphasized the need for nutritious food, safe drinking water, proper sanitation and education in addition to Universal access to safe vaccines. He said that we need to accelerate our efforts to achieve goal of providing universal access to health care at affordable cost for all our citizens. “The rising cost of health care is another key challenge. We are, therefore focusing our attention towards social security of the poor with regard to their health care. Public expenditure on health has increased from less than 1% of our GDP in 2006-07 to an estimated 1.4% of GDP by the end of the Eleventh Five year Plan. But we will need to work harder and do more if we have to reach our goal of increasing public expenditure on health to at least 2.5% of the GDP. Education and health will be the key priorities of the Twelfth Five Year Plan” he emphasized. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Recalling India’s journey of combating Polio, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad noted that the achievement of one full year without even a single polio case, which is being acclaimed worldwide, is the result of a strong political will at the highest levels making sure that there was never any shortage of resources or funds for the polio eradication initiative. He informed that 27 % of the global expenditure on polio eradication has come from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s domestic resources. More than 99 percent coverage of children in the two remaining endemic states of <st1:place w:st="on">Bihar</st1:place> and Uttar Pradesh is unprecedented, not witnessed anywhere else in the world on such a large scale, Azad said. The aggressive mop up response against the polio virus has enabled us to stop further transmission of polio virus. He however added that we are highly mindful of the risks that persist not only on account of indigenous transmission but also importations from other endemic countries. “There is going to be zero tolerance for any new polio case and such a case will be declared as a public health emergency” he reiterated. All the states bordering the neighbouring countries have been alerted to strengthen surveillance for early detection of any imported polio virus. Special booths have been established in the bordering areas like Wagah border and Attari train station in <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> and Munabo train station in Rajasthan, to ensure that all children under 5 years of age coming from across the border are given polio drops, the Minister added. The Polio Programme in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> is the most shining example of strong and effective partnerships, Azad noted.  Azad urged that we should re-dedicate ourselves and resolve that we will continue our efforts with the same vigour, so that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> can be declared Polio Free by the year 2014 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Over the two days, the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:city> will deliberate on how to build synergies to ensure that the present momentum against polio is maintained until the disease is eradicated. The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:city> is expected to provide a platform for sharing and learning lessons for all the key players in the end game strategy for polio eradication – government, partners, donors and frontline workers. The battle has been won but the war against Polio is not yet over is the underlying sentiment of the 2-day <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India No Longer in Polio Endemic Countries’ List: Azad

PM Inaugurates the Polio Summit 2012 The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing at the inauguration of the Polio Summit 2012,...

India Closer to Eradication of Polio

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">NEW DELHI (NNN-AGENCIES) -- From two lakh (200,000) cases being reported in a year in the late 80s to no case reported in the last one year, India’s Pulse Polio programme has come a long way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate a two-day Polio Summit 2012 in the Capital on Feb 25, organized by the union health ministry and Rotary International to celebrate this achievement and to focus on the risks and way forward for complete eradication of the disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“We have proved wrong all the predications that said <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> will be the last country to get rid of polio. In the light of this background, the achievement has been impressive," said Anuradha Gupta, additional secretary, ministry of health.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"But the war is not yet over; we need to continue our momentum for the next two years to be declared a polio-free country. The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:city> isn’t only to celebrate our achievement but to take stock of the challenges ahead,” she added.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">World Health Organisation certifies a country polio-free after no case of the disease is reported from there for at least three consecutive years. -- NNN-AGENCIES<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India Closer to Eradication of Polio

NEW DELHI (NNN-AGENCIES) -- From two lakh (200,000) cases being reported in a year in the late 80s to no case reported in the last one year...

Global Polio Eradication Gets Major Boost

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10.0pt;">By Schlein from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Geneva</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">India</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> recently celebrated a year of being polio-free. This is a remarkable achievement in a country that until recently was recognized as the world’s epicenter of polio. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s momentous accomplishment is boosting prospects of polio becoming only the second disease after smallpox to have been eradicated. To ensure that it remains polio-free, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is holding a second round of National Immunization Days. Between February 19 and 25, vaccinators aim to immunize 172 million children against polio.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Staff Benda Bilili, a group of eight former street musicians from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Kinshasa</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Congo</st1:country-region></st1:place>, are singing their signature song "Polio." Four of the musicians are disabled polio victims. They sing about the disease that drastically changed their lives. They urge parents to immunize their children. They travel throughout <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place> on a mission to kick polio out of the continent. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Sona Bari is external relations officer for the World Health Organization’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative. She said, "A year has passed in which no child in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has been paralyzed by polio for the first time in history."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">She says <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has always been considered the toughest place on earth to stop the virus. But she notes it has achieved this milestone through political will, huge funding by Rotary International, and determination and persistence by the whole society.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"<st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> and Indians had to be committed for a decade to month after month of vaccination activities," said <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bari</st1:place></st1:city>. "House to house to vaccinate children, keeping surveillance for polio very high and finding the most remote and inaccessible populations to ensure that every last child was reached."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Now that <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> has stopped the transmission of the wild poliovirus, only three polio endemic countries remain - <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Bruce Aylward is WHO assistant director for polio, emergencies and country collaboration. He said the "main challenge and problems are definitely right now going to be in northern <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Basically, the whole 20-year, 10-plus-billion-dollar effort now hinges on how well some district or local government area leaders are in vaccinating their kids, and probably what would amount to somewhere around 40 or 50 districts in the entire world. It really is now coming down to that with the progress recently made in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>," said Aylward.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In 2003, religious and political leaders in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Kano</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>, claimed the polio vaccine was part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize girls. Immunizations stopped. As a consequence, hundreds of Nigerian children became disabled and the virus spread to neighboring countries.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Bruce Aylward says both governments and health providers have learned from this experience. All are more vigilant, and great pains are being taken to make sure communities understand the importance of immunizing their children against this dreadful disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"It is a horrific, painful, devastating disease for the child, often for the family and then often even for the communities…Once polio is eliminated, we will also eliminate an incredible barrier to development, an incredible barrier to productivity for not just countries, but obviously the communities that are affected by polio and the children that are affected by polio," Aylward said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">When WHO launched its Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, 350,000 children were paralyzed or killed by this crippling disease every year. That number fell to 647 cases in 17 countries last year. WHO estimates about $10 billion has been spent on polio eradication so far. The United Nations agency says the world stands to benefit by $40 billion to $50 billion in net health savings 20 years after transmission is stopped.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">For United Nations Children's Fund Senior Health Specialist Brigitte Toure, the question is not one of if the job can get done, but when. "The big achievement of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> in one year is to have demonstrated that it is possible to stop polio," she said. "You know that in the world, 99 percent of the countries have stopped polio…We are confident that we will stop this polio outbreak, but we have to work."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’s achievement is converting skeptics into believers. The results are there for all to see. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> shows polio can be eradicated if the political commitment and the money are there to bring this dreaded disease to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Campaign supporters argue that too much has been invested in the polio eradication initiative to abandon it. They warn the consequences of failure are too terrible to contemplate. They say the world, once again, would be faced with hundreds of thousands of children becoming paralyzed or dying from this horrific, but preventable, disease.<span class="apple-style-span"> ---VOA News</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Global Polio Eradication Gets Major Boost

By Schlein from Geneva India recently celebrated a year of being polio-free. This is a remarkable achievement in a country that until rec...

India on Track to Become Polio-Free, Says Who

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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">NEW  DELHI</span></span></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;"> (NNN-UNNS) -- With no registered polio cases over the past year, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is on course to becoming free of the disease, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">If all pending samples for the virus test negative, India – once regarded as the world’s epicentre for polio – will become free of the disease for the first time in its history, reducing the number of polio-endemic countries to three: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">“<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s success is arguably its greatest public health achievement and has provided a global opportunity to push for the end of polio,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stated in a news release.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">“Stopping polio in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> required creativity, perseverance and professionalism – many of the innovations in polio eradication were sparked by the challenges in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The lessons from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> must now be adapted and implemented through emergency actions to finish polio everywhere,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) <st1:placename w:st="on">Executive Director</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Anthony</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Lake</st1:placename> attributed <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s remarkable progress to strong leadership at a national and state level, which pushed for the launch of a comprehensive polio eradication programme that enabled very poor and populous states to have high immunization coverage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">“<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s achievement is proof positive that we can eradicate polio even in the most challenging environments – in fact, it is only by targeting these areas that we can defeat this evil disease,” Mr Lake said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">“We have the ability to protect every last person, especially children, from this entirely preventable disease – and because we can, we must finish the job of eradicating polio globally, once and for all.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">The scale of the eradication effort has been described by WHO as “mind-boggling,” with 170 million children under the age of five being vaccinated each year in two national immunization campaigns, and up to 70 million children in the highest-risk areas being vaccinated multiple times in additional special campaigns.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">Implementing the campaigns also required a big financial commitment from the Government. According to WHO, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> will have by next year have spent $2 billion in eradication efforts, making it one of the largest donors to polio eradication.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">In spite of the current progress, WHO warned that there is no room for complacency. “It is a very welcome milestone, but it is not the end of the road,” WHO’s spokesperson for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Sona Bari, told UN Radio.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">She added that the Government of India must remain vigilant and respond very rapidly to guard itself against any importation of polio from other countries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF. -- NNN-UNNS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

India on Track to Become Polio-Free, Says Who

NEW DELHI (NNN-UNNS) -- With no registered polio cases over the past year, India is on course to becoming free of the disease, the Unit...