Even as the Union Health Minister won the Polio Eradication Champion Award and reiterated the commitment to achieve zero level of the disease by 2008 with over Rs 1300 crore programme for the current fiscal, India is having the largest number of polio cases in the world so far this year.
According to the latest updates by the WHO, India has 241 cases so far in the current year whereas Nigeria came to second position with 191 cases. However compared to 323 during the corresponding period of the previous year (total number of cases in 2006 was 676), situation is slightly better. Nigeria has improved far better bringing the number to 191 from 836 during the same period last year. The total number of polio outbreaks in Nigeria during 2006 was alarmingly at 1122.
And the government has allotted Rs 1300 crore for the pulse polio programme with 80 per cent coming from domestic budget. In 2004-05, total allocation for the programme was Rs 1011 crore and it was reduced to Rs 877 crore next year. For 2006-07, an amount of Rs 1049 crore was allocated and Rs 1064.61 crore was spent, according to the details with the Union Health Ministry.
Notwithstanding the continued outbreak of cases and higher allocations, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare got an award by the Rotary Foundation of the Rotary International. And he reiterated all out efforts to wipe out polio cases.
Western Uttar Pradesh continues to report low incidence of type 1 poliovirus. Only four cases have been reported this year, the lowest-ever for the period of January to June. The 10 core districts surrounding Moradabad, the epicentre of last year's epidemic, have not reported any cases of type 1.
Bihar has reported 22 cases this year, showing ongoing transmission of type 1, largely in the northern half of the state. The emphasis in the next month remains on reaching very young children through frequent SIAs in both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
As many 18 new cases were reported in the past week (one WPV1 and 17 WPV3), bringing the total to 241 cases for 2007. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on September 1, according to the WHO statistics. In response to the presence of WPV3 in Bihar, a monovalent OPV type 3 (mOPV3) campaign is being planned for 7 October in targeted infected blocks.