India is on track to become officially free of polio by the World Health Organisation.
A new case of the disease has not been recorded since January last year and it is believed that if this remains for the rest of the year, the disease will be officially eliminated.
In 1995, there were 32,000 cases of polio and in recent times, young victims can still be seen with misshapen limbs.
India launched the campaign to battle polio in 1999, which was supported by international charities and groups such as Rotary, whose volunteers have helped to distribute vaccines in the country.
Officials and volunteers are planning to stage ‘National Immunisation Days’ next January in order to achieve ‘polio-free status.’
The day will see the volunteers immunize more than 17 million children under five, which make up 15 per cent of India’s population.
World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan told Unicef, “Stopping polio in India required creativity, perseverance and professionalism – many of the innovations in polio eradication were sparked by the challenges in India. The lessons from India must now be adapted and implemented through emergency actions to finish polio everywhere.”
More than 170 million children under the age of five are vaccinated in two national campaigns. With up to 70 million children in the highest-risk areas vaccinated numerous times in special campaigns.
Dr RN Srivastava, of the Expert Advisory Group for Polio Eradication in India told the Telegraph that it was a “gigantic task” to “reach out to millions and millions of children in the last 10 years.”
He also added that there was opposition to the campaigns in some parts of the country, but “tremendous public support” had come through.
He hopes the campaign will spread through to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but warns that India cannot be too confident, saying that “we cannot let our guard down.”
