New Delhi: No laxity has been reported in the polio eradication program after India was declared 'polio free' and the government has taken cognisance of reports of suspected polio cases which after tests were discarded as non-polio acute flaccid paralysis cases.
"India along with ten countries of World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region has been certified Polio free by the Regional Polio Certification Commission on the March 27, 2014. No laxity has been reported in the polio eradication program after the country was declared 'Polio free country'," Health Minister J P Nadda informed the Lok Sabha Friday.
He said that the Government has taken cognisance of the recent reports of suspected polio cases across the country.
"All such reported cases were investigated and discarded as non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases as the stool sample tested were negative for polio," he said.
He said that the reported suspected polio cases across the country are subsequently discarded as Non-Polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis (NPAFP) cases based on symptoms and stool results.
He said that India is taking measures to remain polio free which include two rounds of high quality national immunisation day (Pulse Polio) being conducted each year, sub national immunisation (SNID) rounds being implemented in high risk states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and high risk population pockets in Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Nadda said that more than 100 vaccination posts are functioning along the international borders of India with Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan to administer oral polio vaccine drops throughout the year to all children below five years entering India.
India has also made polio vaccination a mandatory requirement for travellers irrespective of age coming from and going to polio infected countries, the Minister said.
He further added that certification standard surveillance for cases with acute flaccid paralysis is in place to detect importation or emergence of polio case and more than 50,000 AFP cases are being investigated annually across India.
