Rs 3,203 cr for polio eradication

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing concern over the re-emergence of polio cases in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCEA on Thursday cleared implementation of the polio eradication strategy for three years till 2012 at an estimated expenditure of Rs 3,203.98 crore.

Stating that the number of polio cases had dropped dramatically to 66 in 2005,Home Minister P Chidambaram said the numbers had gone up to 676 in 2006,874 in 2007 and 559 in 2008 with most of the cases reported from Western UP and some parts of Bihar. We have to eliminate it. We cannot have children afflicted by polio especially when the medicine is there. Gaps exist in the delivery mechanism, he said.

The main objective of the project cleared today is to achieve the goal of zero transmission of Polio and obtaining international polio-free certification. The India Expert Advisory Group IEAG has recommended a total of six National Immunisation Days NIDs,nine Sub National Immunisation Days SNIDs and 40 Mop-up rounds from 2009-10 to 2011-12,which will make it the largest public health intervention ever taken up anywhere in the world. The estimated number of children aged between 0-5 years to be vaccinated in a NID is around 172 million.