WHO report shows drop in polio cases

Whether it is due to the Big B magic or the frantic efforts of the Health Ministry, the New Year has certainly brought good news on the poli...

Whether it is due to the Big B magic or the frantic efforts of the Health Ministry, the New Year has certainly brought good news on the polio front.

The disease is showing signs of a rapid decline in Uttar Pradesh that contributes 68 per cent of the world’s total polio cases.

Polio cases have dropped drastically in the past three months. According to a report submitted to the Health Ministry by Jay Wenger, WHO Project Manager of the Independent National Polio Surveillance Project, the monthly figures have declined from 334 in September 2002

to 18 in December 2002.

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Although some lab reports are still to be analysed, the news has gladdened the hearts of many in the Health Ministry that has been facing a lot of international criticism since a polio epidemic erupted in UP.

‘‘It was becoming very embarrassing. But more than that, we were very concerned. Uttar Pradesh and the adjoining areas are very densely populated and the epidemic was slowly spreading to other states as well. But things are looking up now. It is a good sign,’’ says Shobhan Sarkar, who heads the Ministry’s Polio Eradication Programme.

The National Health Policy aims at eradicating Polio by 2005. And the Ministry had done well to launch the nationwide Pulse Polio programme that brought down the total number of cases rapidly between 1998 and 2001.

But in 2002, the situation went out of control. A total of 1,509 polio cases were recorded in the year, of which 1,197 cases were reported from UP alone. An epidemic spread from the districts of Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad and Hapur and health officials were at their wits end.

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Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha met UP Chief Minister Mayawati in August to discuss the situation and the Ministry planned a massive publicity campaign along with a revised vaccination drive here.

‘‘The Health Minister himself campaigned and Amitabh Bachchan was involved in the publicity drive. These visuals were aired during prime time slots and we planned a vaccination drive in three phases for UP alone. That was where almost 90 per cent of the cases were being reported,’’ said Secretary (Family Welfare) J.V.R. Prasada Rao.

The vaccination drive was started in three phases, the first phase got over in September, the second in November and the third in January. And the results were almost immediately noticed. From September, the numbers have come down drastically. ‘‘We are keeping our fingers crossed. But the results are encouraging. Let us hope the trend continues,’’ said a health official.