India's Greatest Public Health Achievement

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that the World Health Organization has taken India's name off the list of polio-endemic countries,"said Ghulam Nabi Azad, India's Minister of Health and Family Welfare, at the Polio Summit. The World Health Organization took India's name off of the list of polio-endemic countries on Saturday, 25 February.

Only recently, in 2009, India had nearly half of the world's polio cases. Considering this, the announcement is India's biggest public health achievement. It is due to a collaborative effort between the Union, State governments, UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that this achievement was possible. Within recent years, polio immunization rounds in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the most effected by polio, reached up to 99 per cent.

Even after this major public health win, the Indian government is aware that they must stay vigilant. "We are highly mindful of the risks that persist, not only on account of residual indigenous transmission but also from other countries," stated Mr.Azad. Polio summit attendees discussed how to finally eradicate polio in India.

-Akshika Patel


SOURCE: UNICEF