Kolkata: Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said if by January 13 there are no cases of polio in the country, India will be declared a polio free country by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"Any country that does not have a case of polio for three consecutive years is declared polio free by the WHO.
"For the last two years we have been a polio free country. If by January 13, there are no polio cases in the country, then we will be declared polio free," Azad told reporters, stating that India has achieved the milestone in only four years.
In 2009, 50 per cent cases of polio in the world were reported from India, he said highlighting other achievements of the UPA government at the Centre.
"The first thing we did was to appoint an accredited social health worker (ASHA) in every village to provide ante-natal and post-natal care to pregnant women," he said.
Azad said about 51,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities at the district level have either been constructed or upgraded during the UPA regime.
He said the country has been cautioned by the WHO that three kinds of disease - diabetes and hypertension, cardio vascular diseases and cancer will affect maximum number of people in the coming days.
While commenting on the sops for West Bengal, Azad said three medical colleges in the state will be upgraded to super-speciality hospitals with an expenditure of Rs 150 crore on each one of them.
"These hospitals are Bankura Medical College and Hospital, Malda Medical College and Hospital and North Bengal Medical College and Hospital," he said.
Four new medical colleges will be set up in the state and process is on to identify suitable locations for them, he added.
