Polio officially defeated in India

Spread of polio infections is officially considered as stopped

01/13/2014

India has long been regarded as the world's epidemic of polio, yet efforts to combat the viral infectious disease have yielded promising results. For three years, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) communication, no new cases of polio infection have occurred in India. That applies to the „Wild poliovirus transmission“ officially as stopped.

The last polio infection in India was registered with a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on January 13, 2011, the World Health Organization reports. „If all pending laboratory tests are negative, the transmission of polio wild virus in India is officially considered as stopped“, the current WHO communication. The number of countries threatening to increase the transmission of wild poliovirus has thus reduced to a historic low of three: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Unfavorable starting conditions for the control of polio
Although the preconditions in India for combating polio with the high population density and the existing sanitary problems were extremely unfavorable, the massive public and private commitment of recent years has brought the desired results. „India's success is arguably its greatest public health achievement“, emphasized WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. The National Vaccination Campaign has been able to fully contain polio. Each year, more than 170 million children over the age of five are vaccinated in two national vaccination campaigns, and in the vulnerable areas, an additional 70 million children receive polio vaccinations through special promotions. „This requires nearly one billion doses of the oral polio vaccine annually“, the WHO continues.

Effective protection against polio possible
UNICEF Director Anthony Lake rates the performance of India as „Proof that we can eliminate polio in the most demanding environments.“ The medicine has „the ability to protect every person, especially children, from this totally preventable disease - and because we can, we must stop the work of eradicating polio worldwide - once and for all“, continue to Lake. However, despite the success, there is no room for complacency. In India too, the disease must continue to be closely monitored, not least to protect against the import of pathogens from neighboring countries.

Polio continues to spread in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria
New cases of polio infections, according to the WHO, are mainly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. But also in Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, poliovirus infections have recently been identified. If countries combine the right elements - political will, high-quality immunization campaigns, and the determination of a whole people - then polio can be defeated here too, said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which in turn supports projects worth millions , (Fp)

Picture: Blickreflex.de