The Union Health Ministry has finally decided to do something about all those reports suggesting that the incidence of polio in Uttar Pradesh contributes to 68% of all polio cases in the world: launch a campaign that focuses on battling the bad press by invoking the charm of President A P J Abdul Kalam and the baritone of Amitabh Bachchan.Audio-visual capsules in which Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha appeals to parents to get their children vaccinated are already being aired on Doordarshan. Bachchan has reportedly agreed to shoot for a similar appeal. And posters where President Kalam is seen administering polio drops to a child will also be circulated ahead of Pulse Polio Day on January 5.‘‘There are all sorts of rumours circulating in UP about the polio vaccine. To counter these rumours and to popularise the Pulse Polio Programme, we are drawing up a media plan that includes roping in celebrities who can mould public opinion,’’ Dr Sobhan Sarkar, Deputy Commissioner (Child Health) and National Pulse Polio Coordinator in the ministry, told The Indian Express.The Secretary (Family Welfare), J.V. R. Prasada Rao, was more candid: ‘‘Let us hope things will stabilise. The situation is pretty grim at the moment.’’ The ministry pegged the total number of polio cases from 1934 in 1998 to 265 in 2000. That figure rose slightly in 2001 to about 268, but it has galloped this year to 1,263 cases. And Uttar Pradesh alone contributes 1,033 cases, according to figures provided by the ministry.These statistics are bad news for the ministry, which had hoped to eradicate polio by 2005. So Sinha has met UP CM Mayawati to plug his media plan, and Secretary Rao has also been trooping down to Uttar Pradesh. The main problem areas in the state include Azamgarh, which threw up 76 cases this year, and Moradabad, which reported 67 cases.
