Calling India ‘‘still a problem country’’ in the area of polio eradication due to ‘‘internationalisation’’ of the disease, health experts hoped that the country would be free of the disease in the coming year. ‘‘There has been internationalisation of polio in the current scenario,’’ said Unicef Executive Director Ann M Veneman today at the GAVI conference, organised here by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.There was a case reported in Angola which was traced to India, Veneman said, adding that a few outbreaks would probably be reported before the disease was completely eliminated, as had happened in the case of small pox. ‘‘We are getting closer to polio elimination. The latest meeting of a group of experts felt that we will be polio free by next year,’’ said Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, department of immunisation, vaccines and biologicals at WHO. ‘‘India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, where transmission of the virus is still continuing, are still the problem countries,’’ he added. As reported earlier, wild polio virus from Bihar had gone as far as Nepal, which for more than four years had reported no polio cases.The experts, however, were quick to appreciate India’s efforts in the area. ‘‘India has done fairly well considering the sudden increase in cases in 2002,’’ said Okwo-Bele. India had reported more than 1,600 cases in 2002 and brought it down to 54 this year. ‘‘This year cases had been reported only in few districts and there is now only one type of virus in circulation,’’ he said.Officials in the Health Ministry say Bihar is proving a hindrance in the polio eradication drive which costs India about Rs 1,100 crore per year. Recent sewage samples collected in Mumbai showed the presence of the virus from Bihar. Even a case reported in Ludhiana and two in Jharkhand had genetic links to Bihar.
