The number of polio cases in Pakistan this year has risen to 21. The first case has also been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Along with this, two more children have been diagnosed with this disease in Sindh and Balochistan. In the latest cases, polio has been confirmed in a 15-month-old child in Killa Abdullah district of Balochistan, a three-year-old child in Kemari district of Karachi and a nine-month-old girl in Mohammad district of KP. While polio is once again spreading in India’s neighboring country, India has declared itself polio-free 10 years ago.
The polio virus mainly affects children under the age of five, especially those who are malnourished or who have not received vaccination. The disease attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. There is no cure for polio, but vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this serious disease. Although the Pakistan government is working hard to eradicate polio, the country is still vulnerable to the polio virus. Pakistan and Afghanistan are two countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a special campaign to eradicate polio on September 8. Under the campaign, 2,86,000 polio workers were deployed to administer polio vaccines to nearly 3 crore children under the age of five in a door-to-door campaign from September 9 to 15. Last month, the Sindh government also launched a 10-day vaccination drive. The virus is not restricted to just three provinces. Islamabad also reported its first polio case in 16 years when the National Institute of Health’s Polio Regional Reference Laboratory detected the disease as wild polio virus type 1 (WPV1) in a child from Union Council Rural 4 of the federal capital on September 6. So far, Balochistan has reported the highest number of polio cases at 14, while Sindh has recorded four cases. Punjab, Islamabad and KP have reported one case each so far.
India’s journey to become polio free
Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus attacks a person’s nervous system and mostly affects children under the age of 5. In severe cases, it can cause permanent disability or even death. The virus spreads through water or food contaminated with the feces of an infected person, and then it enters the body through the mouth.
History of Polio
The history of polio has been extremely painful and challenging around the world. During the 20th century, this disease had become an epidemic in many parts of the world. Millions of children suffered disability due to this disease and many also died.
The challenge of polio in India
In India, polio was a major health challenge in the 1980s and 1990s. In a large and populous country like India, where sanitation and health services needed to be improved, polio eradication was considered extremely difficult. By the end of the 1980s, more than 50,000 children in India were becoming disabled due to polio every year. Polio cases were particularly high in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The fight against polio
The Indian government launched a strong and comprehensive campaign against polio. In 1995, the National Pulse Polio Campaign was launched in India, under which all children under the age of 5 were given oral polio vaccine (OPV). To make this campaign a success, polio vaccination camps were organized across the country and door-to-door vaccination campaigns were conducted. Health workers, ASHA workers, doctors, and local organizations played an important role in this.
International Support
International organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and Rotary International provided significant support in making India polio-free. These organisations provided funds, vaccines and technical support, which helped speed up the campaign.
How did India become polio-free?
The success of the vaccination campaigns conducted against polio in India resulted in no new case of polio being reported in the country after 2011. The last polio case was reported in West Bengal on 13 January 2011. Subsequently, after no case being reported for three consecutive years, the World Health Organization declared India a polio-free country on 27 March 2014.
date of india becoming polio free
India was officially declared a polio-free country on 27 March 2014. This day proved to be a milestone in the health history of India.
The main reasons behind India becoming polio free
National Pulse Polio Campaign: This campaign was the mainstay of polio eradication in India. Every year, lakhs of health workers went door-to-door to vaccinate children.
Cooperation between government and public: This campaign received full support from the government as well as the general public and the media. Through awareness campaigns, people were told about the seriousness of polio and the importance of vaccination.
International CooperationOrganizations like World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Rotary played an important role in this campaign.
Contribution of health workers: In every corner of the country, be it cities or remote rural areas, health workers worked tirelessly and delivered polio vaccine to children.
Challenges and struggles
The dream of a polio-free India was not easy. It was challenging to run vaccination campaigns in many remote areas of India. Apart from this, there were misconceptions about the polio vaccine in some communities. Despite all these challenges, the government and health organizations worked hard continuously and gave the right information to the people.
The future of a polio-free India
India has definitely become polio free, but vigilance will still have to be exercised to maintain it. Polio cases still keep coming up in neighbouring countries, so in India too, special attention is given to the border areas. Polio vaccination campaigns still continue from time to time so that no child is deprived of this serious disease.
India becoming polio free is a great achievement, which should be considered not only the result of the efforts of health workers and the government, but also the cooperation and awareness of the general public. This proves that when the government, health organizations and the public work together, any disease can be defeated. This journey of polio free India is a source of inspiration for the coming generations.