Ensure oral polio vaccine for children on Jan 17, says Harsh Vardhan

Children below five years of ageshould be administered oral polio vaccine on January 17 andparents should ensure it, Union Minister for Health and FamilyWelfare, Harsh Vardhan said here on Friday.

Recalling the last case of polio virus in the country,exactly 10 years ago during January 2011 in West Bengal, hesaid the World Health Organisation certified India as poliofree in 2014.

''Today, in spite of the fact that virtually all thecountries in the world have eradicated polio, two of ourneighbouring countries still have cases of the poliomyelitis,the P1 strain and the number is significant,'' he toldreporters after overseeing the dry run for the rollout ofCOVID-19 vaccination at Rajiv Gandhi Government GeneralHospital here.

The Minister, however, did not specify the twocountries.

According to the WHO's website on polio section, onlythree countries in the world have never stopped transmissionof polio, which are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

Considering the prevalence of the contagion in nearbycountries, there is a risk factor and the National ExpertGroup on Immunisation in consultation with internationalhealth authorities have taken into account such factors.

''We have decided that on January 17, we are going tohave our national immunisation days for polio which will runfor two to three days,'' he said adding the drive coveredaspects like identifying and immunising children left out fromvaccination.

The vaccination is very essential to ensure that thenation maintained overall immunity levels against polio virus,he said.

''We have to once again ensure that 100 per centchildren less than five years accompanied by their parentsshould receive two drops of oral polio vaccine on that day.'' He exuded confidence that the country with itscompetence and long experience on administering vaccines wouldperform well on polio vaccine too.

Vardhan requested NGOs and volunteers of the NationalCadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) to pitchin for the smooth 'conduct of COVID-19 vaccination,' expectedsoon and for mobilisation of beneficiaries.PTI VGN SS /PTI PTI