Pulse Polio immunization programme launched in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 18:

The Pulse Polio Immunization Programme was launched in Odisha today.

Principal secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Arati Ahuja inaugurated the three-day programme by administering polio drops to children at the government run health dispensary at IRC Village here.

A target has been set to cover 40 lakh children between 0-5 years of age across the state during the three days.

The pulse polio programme will be conducted at 18,828 polio immunization centres across the state, 75,312 workers with 3,775 observers will be engaged in the exercise.

“Our country has been declared polio free, but this exercise is being done as a preventive measure since other countries in our neighbourhood are yet to become polio free and the virus can travel to our country”, said Ahuja speaking to reporters at the dispensary.

Children of less than five years will be given polio drops as part of the government’s drive to sustain polio eradication from the region.

India has been implementing the Pulse Polio Programme since 1995 and the last case of wild polio was reported in January 2011.

A country is declared polio-free by the WHO if no case is reported for three consecutive years.

India and seven other Asian countries were declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) March 27, 2014.

Apart from India, the other countries which were given polio-free certificates were Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives and Myanmar