indiangirl
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Pulse Polio is an immunization campaign established by the government of India in 1995-96 to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against polio virus.
In India, vaccination against Polio started in 1978 with Expanded Program in Immunisation (EPI). By 1984, it was successful in covering around 40% of all infants, giving 3 doses of OPV to each. In 1985, the Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) was launched to cover all the districts of the country. UIP became a part of child safe and survical motherland program (CSSM) in 1992 and Reproductive and Child Health Program (RCH) in 1997. This program led to a significant increase in coverage, up to 95%. The number of reported cases of polio also declined from 28,757 during 1987 to 3,265 in 1995.
However in 2011 in India, more than 60,000 suspected cases were investigated, only one of which was found to be polio, the officials said. It will take around three weeks to get results from tests, but it was "extremely unlikely" these would prove positive.With no new cases since the single case in 2011, India was taken off the list of polio-endemic countries three weeks ago by the World Health Organization.
Another two years will need to pass without a case of the disease before the country, with 1.2 billion people, can formally be declared free of the disease.As India marks an important milestone in its fight against polio, international health experts say that it is too soon to declare victory. Mass vaccination has eradicated the crippling disease in many parts of the world. But polio transmission and sudden outbreaks remain a challenge in large regions of the country.
In India, vaccination against Polio started in 1978 with Expanded Program in Immunisation (EPI). By 1984, it was successful in covering around 40% of all infants, giving 3 doses of OPV to each. In 1985, the Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) was launched to cover all the districts of the country. UIP became a part of child safe and survical motherland program (CSSM) in 1992 and Reproductive and Child Health Program (RCH) in 1997. This program led to a significant increase in coverage, up to 95%. The number of reported cases of polio also declined from 28,757 during 1987 to 3,265 in 1995.
However in 2011 in India, more than 60,000 suspected cases were investigated, only one of which was found to be polio, the officials said. It will take around three weeks to get results from tests, but it was "extremely unlikely" these would prove positive.With no new cases since the single case in 2011, India was taken off the list of polio-endemic countries three weeks ago by the World Health Organization.
Another two years will need to pass without a case of the disease before the country, with 1.2 billion people, can formally be declared free of the disease.As India marks an important milestone in its fight against polio, international health experts say that it is too soon to declare victory. Mass vaccination has eradicated the crippling disease in many parts of the world. But polio transmission and sudden outbreaks remain a challenge in large regions of the country.