|
61st WHA
·
In May 2008
a resolution
adopted at
the 61st WHA
said “India,
Afghanistan
and Pakistan
should
implement
large-scale
mop-up
vaccination
campaigns to
interrupt
their final
chains of
poliovirus
transmission,
given the
very low
levels of P1
in these
countries".
·
WHO Director
General
Margaret
Chan has
urged
endemic
countries
like India,
Pakistan and
Nigeria to
eradicate
polio once
and for all.
·
Encouraging
India to
keep up the
intensity of
the fight
against P1,
the
international
delegates at
the WHA said
in the
resolution
that with
consistent
and targeted
attention in
the next few
months,
“India could
be the first
of the
remaining
endemic
countries to
stop P1”.
·
Though India
is still the
number one
country in
terms of
polio
prevalence,
it has
progressed
well to
contain the
virulent P1
virus that
paralyses
five times
more
children
than the P3
virus does.
·
P1 cases in
India are
down from
646 in 2006
to 80 in
2007.
·
This year,
only four
cases of it
have been
reported
from India
so far.
·
Uttar
Pradesh,
which was
the
epicentre
of polio in
south Asia,
has made
substantial
progress as
the state
has not
reported any
P1 case this
year.
·
In 2007,
India
reported
over 870
polio cases.
In the first
five months
of this
year, over
230 cases
have been
reported in
the country
of which
Bihar
accounts for
over 75
percent.
However,
barring four
cases, all
cases
reported
this year
are P3
viruses. |
