Pune city has not had a single polio case for 11 years and the Pune Municipal Corporation’s immunisation centre, the only one in the country with ISO-9001-2000 certification, is now tackling the challenge of covering migrants by setting up 90 outreach stations.Dr Sunil Tore, PMC immunisation officer supervising arrangements for a smooth pulse polio drive on the National Immunisation Day on December 21, said no polio case has been detected in Pune since 1997.Global Polio Eradication Initiative says this year the country reported 532 polio cases, — a whopping 35 per cent of the worldwide cases. Even as an aggressive campaign is on to eradicate polio, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, cities have their own agenda to ensure routine immunisation coverage to migrant population. The 23 villages around Pune have facilities offered by outreach stations. “Strict measures are taken to ensure each child from migrant families gets immunised,” says Tore.The immunisation centre has records to prove the fact. An outreach station would benefit 500 beneficiaries at Sasanenagar, Sayyednagar and Mohammedwadi every month. Special immunisation cards have been given to mothers of infants for a monthly follow-up. Vaccines including BCG, diptheria, tetanus are given till the infant is nine months old and receives a shot against measles, says Tore. On an average, each outreach station caters to 500 migrants every month. These stations are at the periphery of the city including Baner, Balewadi, Sus, Chitamani Nagar, Wadgaonsheri, Manjari Budruk and Lohegaon. Meanwhile, Pune registered 19 acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in the 0-15 age bracket. An AFP surveillance programme helps find cases of polio if it is circulating. If a hospital reports a child getting paralysed, one of the first measures is to rule out polio. Tore ruled out polio in any of the 19 children.
