Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | India wipes out polio taint

India wipes out polio taint

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jan 13, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 13, 2012

-Reuters

India is about to hit a milestone in its battle to eradicate the polio virus with no new cases reported in the past year, the country’s health minister said today, a dramatic drop from being the country worst-affected by the crippling disease.


The last case was detected on January 13 in a two-year-old girl in Howrah.

A full year without any new cases means India will no longer be classed as “polio-endemic” by the World Health Organisation, leaving only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

“We are excited and hopeful, at the same time, vigilant and alert,” said health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in a statement, cautioning it was still important to remain vigilant.

“This giant leap towards polio containment in a short span of two years is an endorsement of India’s tireless and persistent efforts.”

Just two years ago, 741 Indians were diagnosed with polio, nearly half the world’s cases that year. Until the 1950s, the disease, which attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection, crippled thousands every year in rich nations.

It often spreads in areas with poor sanitation — a factor that helped it keep a grip on India for many decades — and children under five are the most vulnerable. But it can be stopped with comprehensive, population-wide vaccination.

The Polio Eradication Programme in India aims to immunise every child under five years with the oral polio vaccine.

The massive programme has seen millions of health workers fan out across the country, going door to door, village to village, immunising more than 170 million children every year with oral doses of the polio vaccine.

The number of polio cases dropped to 42 in 2010 compared with 741 the previous year. The last case in 2011 was reported from Howrah.

Health experts welcomed India’s milestone, but advised caution. “India must maintain sensitive surveillance and high childhood immunity against the wild polio virus to guard against any importation of polio until eradication is achieved globally,” the Global Polio Eradication Initiative said in a statement.

“In 2011, Pakistan and Afghanistan have both seen alarming increases in polio cases, and polio virus from Pakistan re-infected China... as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.”


The Telegraph, 13 January, 2012, http://telegraphindia.com/1120113/jsp/nation/story_15000248.jsp


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close