In 1988, along with the 192 member nations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Indian Government joined in the commitment for global polio eradication. Since 1995, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been conducting intensive immunization efforts. India’s 175 million children, age 5 and under, are all part of a huge national immunization program to eradicate polio in the country. According to the WHO guidelines, India must remain polio free for a period of three years to demonstrate that the disease has been fully eradicated.
Global Polio Eradication Movement
Since the beginning of the eradication campaign, two million volunteers have traveled door to door across India twice a year to administer the vaccine. The fact that the vaccine can be administered orally has somewhat facilitated the mission. At the beginning of the program there were approximately 50,000 polio cases reported annually in India. As of last month, not a single case of polio has been reported in eighteen months! This is quite an accomplishment considering the challenges associated with immunizing millions of children in such a large and diverse country as India.
Those administering the vaccine have had to go everywhere from different religious and public service centers to remote farming communities and low income housing areas throughout the country’s cities. In order for the program to be successful, the team of volunteers has had to overcome India’s vast linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic barriers. In India there are hundreds of spoken languages and dialects, as well as huge disparities in education and resources.
Moreover, there are logistic issues to be dealt with; the vaccine must be kept at around 35 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be effective — in India during the summer months the temperature outside is often above 100 degrees. In addition, poor sanitary conditions, infected drinking water, poverty, and sheer numbers have made India’s success story a model for other developing countries.
Unfortunately, the situation has not been the same for India’s neighboring country, Pakistan. Political and social mistrust in the country has kept health workers in Pakistan from vaccinating children and eradicating the disease. This has created strain at the border as India fears that efforts to eradicate the disease in their country may be threatened by renewed exposure from bordering Pakistan.
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