NEWS

Karnataka launched Pulse Polio – 2022 campaign, as part of a nationwide drive

PULSE POLIO PROGRAMME

• India launched the Pulse Polio immunisation programme in 1995
• Resolution for a global initiative of polio eradication was adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1988
• Children in the age group of 0-5 years are administered polio drops during national and sub-national immunisation rounds (in high-risk areas) every year

POLIO

• Highly infectious viral disease
• Mainly affects young children
• Virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food)
• Multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
• There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.

STATUS OF POLIO IN INDIA

• Last polio case in the country was reported from Howrah district of West Bengal in January 2011
• The WHO on February 24, 2012, removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild polio virus transmission
• South-East Asia Region of the WHO, of which India is a part, was certified as polio-free