UP epicentre of world’s polio, says WHO chief

Brundtland says, ‘‘UP is now the epicentre of the world’s polio.’’ With her mind focussed on how the newly emerged SARS epidemic could be contained in time, Brundtland launched a massive pulse polio campaign in Lucknow where she said ‘‘83 per cent of all new polio cases (of the world) are now found in India. This country, and UP in particular, is the number one priority for stopping transmission of the polio virus around the world.’’

India is only one of seven countries to remain infected by polio. Successful immunisation campaigns are crucial to ensuring its eradication. To stem the epidemic and help eradicate polio, over 80 million children are to be vaccinated in six Indian states over the next six days. According to the WHO in 2002, the epidemic — the largest in the world since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative began in 1988 — spread across northern India, resulting in a six-fold increase in new cases over 2001.

UP was especially hard hit, with the state now accounting for 64 per cent of all new polio cases worldwide. Of particular concern is the fact that the epidemic spread from UP to previously polio-free areas within India and abroad. Polio transmission has been re-established in Gujarat and West Bengal. In January 2003, a boy was paralysed by polio in Lebanon for the first time in nearly 10 years. WHO says ‘‘genetic sequencing of this Lebanese virus confirmed it was from India’’. Interestingly, the boy had never travelled to India.

WHO sources say the latest epidemic occurred after the number of planned polio vaccination campaigns was reduced in India in 2002. Additionally, as many as 15 per cent of homes were not visited during the vaccination which did take place that year. To reverse this trend, UP has confirmed six polio campaigns this year, and planning has been revised to ensure that every child under the age of five is reached.