Polio Free India: An achievement we can be proud of

In 1994, when India started its “Polio Free India” campaign to eliminate wild polioviruses from India, WHO’s president mocked the campaign by saying that India won’t be able to achieve this target by the end of 21st century and even if it somehow manages to achieve and become polio free, it would be the last nation on the planet to do so. But, it took India just 16 years to eliminate polioviruses from India to become a polio free nation.

The success that India has achieved in eliminating polioviruses has been acclaimed globally. Until early 1990’s, India was rated as hyper-endemic for polio, with 800-1000 children getting paralysed daily. The situation was horrid and ominous, as polio is a contagious illness which can spread easily from person to person. The challenge was not just to eradicate polioviruses but also to sustain and contain their spread. 

In order to eradicate polio from the country, a comprehensive campaign was started by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1994 with the focus on improving the penetration of the availability of polio vaccines to every nook and corner of the country. The aim was not to let any child go unvaccinated. Initially, the programme didn’t succeed because of the inability of the vaccine to fight against polioviruses. This led to the development of ultra anti-poliovirus oral vaccine which was not only more efficient in eradicating and preventing the spread of viruses, but was also cost efficient. 

The second biggest problem that the campaign faced was in its execution part due to the shortage in numbers of health care volunteers. As the campaign required pan-India penetration, therefore more volunteers were required. For this, many NGO’s and self help groups were contacted to get the required no. of volunteers for the job. Slowly and steadily, the movement picked up across the country. 

Also, the regular funding of the campaign by govt. helped in sustaining it over the period of time. Bringing in Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador of the campaign helped in creating awareness among people about polio. 

It has been more than 3 years since last case of polio was recorded. India was accorded “Polio-free” status by WHO a week back. This success of India should be rightly attributed to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 12.3 million volunteers, 2.1 million supervisors, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and everybody associated with the campaign over the last two decades. This is an achievement we can surely be proud of.