Kolkata: India has moved closer to
eradication of polio, recording only 42 cases in 2010 compared to 741 in the previous year.
Till February this year, only a single case has been
reported from Howrah district in West Bengal, according to the
India National Polioplus Committee of Rotary International.
A special polio immunisation campaign was launched
recently in Howrah, Kolkata, Murshidabad and adjoining areas
by administering oral polio vaccine to the children there.
Sources said that more immunisation campaigns were
lined up in these polio high-risk areas as part of rapid
response and an aggressive strategy to arrest polio incidence
in the state.
"Multiple polio vaccination rounds are needed to
rapidly boost immunity of children against polio, interrupt
polio virus transmission in West Bengal," they said.
Committee chairman Deepak Kapur said that Rotary
International along with partners, including the West Bengal
government, is employing best resources and manpower available
to eradicate polio from the state.
Quoting UNICEF (India)`s chief of polio eradication
programme Lieven Desomer, the sources said the UNICEF had
expanded partnership with NGO networks in the state to bolster
community participation for polio eradication efforts.
"Protecting children against polio and eradicating
the crippling disease is a top priority," he said.
Nearly 1,62,500 vaccinators are expected to immunise
93 lakh children of up to age five during the week-long polio
campaign.
PTI
