PM anguished over spurt in polio cases in UP, Bihar

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) Prime Minister of India Manmohan
Singh on Thursday expressed anguish over spurt in polio cases
in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and directed the Health Ministry to
closely monitor the situation and take effective steps to
eradicate the disease.

The Prime Minister's observation came at a meeting of
the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which
decided to continue the Polio Eradication Strategy for three
more years from now at an estimated cost of Rs 3,204 crore.

The number of polio cases had "dropped dramatically" to
66 in 2005. However, the outbreak of the disease in Western
UP and some parts of Bihar contributed to the new cases. The
total number went up to 676 in 2006, 874 in 2007 and 559 in
2008, Home Minister of India P Chidambaram told reporters
here.

Expressing concern over the spurt, the Prime Minister
directed the Health Ministry to pay special attention to UP
and Bihar and ensure "very close" monitoring of the situation,
the Minister said after the meeting.

"It is a matter of concern. This strategy must be very
closely monitored by the Centre by paying special attention to
these two states. Why was it not a success in UP and Bihar,"
he said, adding that the eradication programme was already
behind by five years.

"We have to eliminate it. We cannot have children
afflicted by polio especially when the medicine is there. Gaps
exist in the delivery mechanism," Chidambaram said.

Out of the estimated expenditure of Rs 3203.98 crore in
the programme from 2009-10 to 2011-12, a total of Rs 1,727
crore would come from external funding including Rs 1,323
crore from the World Bank. The remaining funds would be met by
the Centre, Chidambaram said.

The main objective of the strategy is to achieve the goal
of zero transmission of polio and obtaining international
polio-free certification for accomplishment of this goal, he
said.

As per the recommendation of the India Expert Advisory
Group, a total of six National Immunisation Days (NIDs), nine
Sub National Immunisation Days and 40 Mop Up rounds have been
planned for the three years.

Pulse Polio Immunisation, started in 1995-96, is the
largest public health intervention ever undertaken anywhere in
the world.

The estimated number of children, aged between 0-5 years,
to be vaccinated in a NID is around 172 million. Sub-NIDs, in
the high-risk states, would cover about 69 million children.

The 'Mop Up' immunisation rounds would be undertaken in
those districts and surrounding areas where polio cases would
be reported, covering about 7.5 million target population. PTI
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