{"id":32412,"date":"2024-11-20T17:02:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T11:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=32412"},"modified":"2024-11-20T17:02:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T11:32:31","slug":"polio-eradication-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-11-2024\/polio-eradication-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Polio Eradication in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>GS2\/Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s achievement of <strong>polio-free status in 2014 <\/strong>represents one of the most significant successes in global public health.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s participation in the <strong>Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)<\/strong> complemented by the robust<strong> national immunization efforts under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) <\/strong>made it successful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Immunization in India<\/strong><br>&#8211; The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) was launched in <strong>1978<\/strong>.<br>1. This program aimed to provide <strong>vaccines to children against various diseases.\u00a0<\/strong><br>&#8211; In <strong>1985<\/strong>, this program was renamed the <strong>Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)<\/strong>, broadening its reach to rural areas beyond urban centers.\u00a0<br>&#8211; The UIP became an <strong>integral part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)<\/strong>, launched in <strong>2005 <\/strong>to improve the health of rural populations.<br>&#8211; Today, UIP is one of the world\u2019s largest public health programs, targeting over <strong>2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually,<\/strong> providing free vaccines for <strong>12 vaccine-preventable diseases.<\/strong>\u00a0<br>&#8211; <strong>Polio <\/strong>was one of the<strong> first diseases targeted under UIP,<\/strong> and its elimination became a key public health milestone.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Polio<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Polio (poliomyelitis)<\/strong> is a<strong> highly contagious viral disease<\/strong> caused by the <strong>poliovirus.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It primarily affects <strong>children under the age of 5<\/strong> and can lead to severe complications such as <strong>paralysis, disability, or even death.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Spread:<\/strong> Polio spreads mainly through <strong>fecal-oral transmission.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It can also be spread via <strong>respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Symptoms:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most cases are <strong>mild or asymptomatic.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A smaller percentage of <strong>infected individuals develop paralytic polio,<\/strong> which can cause paralysis, usually affecting the legs or respiratory muscles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vaccination:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is <strong>no cure<\/strong> for polio, it can only be <strong>prevented<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>There are two vaccines available:<\/strong> oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine. Both are effective and safe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Efforts in Polio Eradication:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pulse Polio Programme Launch (1995): <\/strong>It used an <strong>Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) strategy,<\/strong> reaching over 1 million children and ensuring every child under five was vaccinated.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The campaign became iconic, with the slogan <strong>&#8220;Do Boond Zindagi Ki<\/strong>&#8221; (Two drops of life).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Routine Immunization and System Strengthening: <\/strong>The UIP provided free vaccines against polio, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, measles, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) Introduction (2015):<\/strong> IPV provides additional protection against polio, especially against type 2 poliovirus, and was gradually expanded nationwide by 2016.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Political Will and Community Engagement: <\/strong>Political leaders at all levels ensured that resources were allocated and the program received the needed attention.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Pulse Polio campaigns also relied heavily on door-to-door efforts, reaching children in difficult-to-reach areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Final Leap: <\/strong>On 27th March 2014, India was officially declared polio-free, a milestone celebrated globally as an example of successful public health intervention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Annual Polio Campaigns:<\/strong> India continues to conduct National Immunization Days (NID) and Sub-National Immunization Days (SNID) annually to keep immunity levels high and ensure that no child is missed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Surveillance and Border Vaccination: <\/strong>Continuous surveillance and vaccination at international borders continues to mitigate the risk of polio re-importation from endemic regions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>New Vaccines and Expansion:<\/strong> India has introduced several new vaccines under its immunization program, including Rotavirus, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), and Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine, as part of broader efforts to prevent other vaccine-preventable diseases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mission Indradhanush:<\/strong> Launched in 2014, it aims to increase immunization coverage to 90%.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2074630\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s achievement of polio-free status in 2014 represents one of the most significant successes in global public health.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32413,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32412\/revisions\/32413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}