World Polio Day is observed annually on October 24 to honour Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, and to raise awareness about this serious health condition. The day is dedicated to the frontline workers engaged in combating polio in several countries.
Polio or Poliomyelitis is a disability and a life-threatening disease, which is caused by the poliovirus. This virus is contagious as it can spread from one person to another and can also lead to permanent paralysis.
India’s arduous journey to become polio-free
According to UNICEF, in the mid-20th century, around 1,50,000 cases of polio were reported every year in India. The virus was transmitted in communities that lacked proper sanitation facilities. The consequences of the disease were paralysis and death, which stretched for a generation. Looking into the then prevailing conditions, India began administering the polio vaccines in 1978 and joined the global effort to eradicate the disease. However, the mass vaccination campaigns did not reach a significant count until 1997 with the formation of the National Polio Surveillance Project, which came to dominate the public health surveillance system.
UNICEF worked along with the Indian government since the beginning of the polio vaccination programme, which later accelerated the contribution in 2001 with the creation of the Social Mobilisation Network, and sought to eliminate the social and religious barriers to vaccination and ensure universal coverage. To increase the pace of the vaccination drive, a network of 7,000 individuals were trained who monitor and track the drive from house to house. This step was undertaken to identify the high-risk neighbourhoods and penetrate the possibility of resistance.
Until the 1990s, polio became a hyper-endemic disease in the country and to prevent the disease, the government launched the Universal Immunisation Programme which covered all the districts of India. This programme was named as ‘Pulse Polio’ campaign, which was initiated in 1995. However, till this point in time, the significant problem was no more the supply of polio vaccines but the reluctance of mothers to bring their children to the polio vaccination camps. To encourage the individuals, the campaign was designed with the iconic tagline ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ke’.
With the contribution of this network of committed health workers India emerged successful in eradicating this disease. The network continued to conduct surveillance until it achieved its goal. Following the effort, in January 2011, the last case of polio was reported in West Bengal. Three years after the report of the last case, India was declared to be polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2014.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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