Govt wants to ensure polio doesn’t see ’05

The Union health and family welfare minister made two resolutions for the new year — a polio-free India by the end of 2004 and more tha...

The Union health and family welfare minister made two resolutions for the new year — a polio-free India by the end of 2004 and more than Rs 1,100 crore to spend on the mission.

The budget is close to double the 2003 expenditure of Rs 600 crore. Close to Rs 3,000 crore has been spent on the eradication programme from 1995 to 2003 but the outlay this year is expected to be a quantum jump from earlier amounts spent on the campaign. Sources said the money spent this year would be the highest-ever annual budget for polio eradication programme in the country so far.

The minister set June as the deadline for interruption of polio transmission all over the country except Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the year-end for the rest of the country — that means no new case should be reported by January 2005.

Only 214 cases have been reported this year compared to 1,600 last year.

‘‘We are coordinating with the donor agencies and WHO for supply of vaccine and fund-related matters,’’ said an official. ‘‘Motivating the administration is also very important and in this regard, the health minister is likely to hold a meeting with chief ministers of all states and the district administration as well.’’

The only hitch that has come up so far is that the estimated cost of the Oral Polio Vaccine is likely to rise. While it was Rs 3.91 per dose in 2003, it is likely to be Rs 4.65 per dose in 2004.

The recommended strategy includes increasing the National Immunisation Days (NID) from two to five with a sub-NID and mop up exercises whenever a new case is reported. The first three NIDs would be held between January and April.

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‘‘The bottomline is interrupting the chains of transmission before the high season of July and August,’’ an official said.