India determined to eradicate polio: Minister

New Delhi: With only one case of polio being reported in India this year, the government is hoping to eradicate the paralytic disease completely, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Sudip Bandyopadhyay told the Lok Sabha Friday.

"There is 98 percent decline in polio cases over last year. Only one polio case reported in 2011 as compared to 42 in 2010," he said. "Government is making determined and concerted efforts to stop the circulation of the polio virus and achieve polio eradication," he added. The last polio cases in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were noted in April and September this year respectively, he added. The minister said the Indian Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on Polio, comprising national and international health experts, had noted India`s "tremendous progress towards polio eradication". "The IEAG recommended that an emergency preparedness and response plan should be prepared to protect polio free areas from any importation of virus from within or outside the country and to be prepared to respond to any wild polio virus rapidly and effectively," he added. IANS