A new campaign personalising the message for polio immunisation from ‘Har bachcha har bar’ (every child every time) to ‘mera bachcha har bar’ (my child every time) has been rolled out to encourage all parents to take action to protect their children from polio, an official statement said.
As compared to 39 cases, only one polio case has been detected so far this year in the country making it the longest polio-free period ever since eradication efforts were launched.
The only case of polio reported this year has been from Howrah district in West Bengal, it added.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that further efforts were required to mitigate the risk of polio importation from Pakistan which has experienced a spurt in the number of cases and has re-infected China.
In the context of the World Polio Day being observed on Monday, he said, “We are close to our goal, but we are not taking any chances. Efforts will be further intensified in the country to stop any residual poliovirus circulation and also to prevent any polio cases following an international importation.”
All children crossing over into India by road and train are being administered the polio vaccine. An alert has been sounded in the states bordering China to step up polio surveillance. Continuous polio vaccination is also being carried out at 81 transit points along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar since April this year, he added.
A series of new initiatives have also been introduced with the centre putting in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP), in which all states would identify high-risk districts, blocks and villages to roll out measures to scale up routine immunisation.
