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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Polio-free Bihar gets Gates pat by Sanjeev Kumar Verma

Polio-free Bihar gets Gates pat by Sanjeev Kumar Verma

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published Published on Feb 28, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 28, 2012

India has not reported a single polio case over the past one year, but Bihar has gone a step further by maintaining a clean slate for the past 16 months.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently deleted India from the list of polio endemic countries, the first time that the country has been ticked out of the map.

The last polio case in India was reported from Howrah district of Bengal on January 13, 2011. The last such case from Bihar was reported from Dhaka in East Champaran district in September 2010. The declining trend (see chart) of polio cases in Bihar has been seen since 2007.

Bihar’s feat has attracted the attention of Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates, who is associated with the state through his charitable foundation that oversees several projects in the hinterlands.

Gates has written a letter (dated February 16, 2012) to chief minister Nitish Kumar, praising him for his commitment to eradicate polio.

“On the occasion of India being free of polio for one year, it is truly a pleasure to congratulate you on more than 16 months without a reported case of wild poliovirus in Bihar,” reads the opening line of Gates’s letter.

The computer czar, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works in the health sector in Bihar, heaps praise on Nitish. “Your personal leadership has been extraordinary and your administration deserves special credit for this accomplishment. We hope your example inspires other governments around the world to strive for similar successes in this truly global effort.”

Gates has also requested Nitish to continue monitoring the eradication programme, especially in the Kosi region.

The state government is getting the support of WHO, Unicef and Rotary International for implementing the polio eradication programme.

Officials working in the health sector said Nitish had laid special emphasis on polio eradication and monitored the implementation of the programme by the field staff.

Principal secretary, health, Amarjeet Sinha, while lauding the chief minister for his support, said: “WHO surveillance in tracing the households missed out after every round of polio eradication programme too has helped a lot in covering almost all target groups.”

Bihar is home to around 2 crore children in the age group of 0 to 5 years who are administered polio drops during special rounds. Going by the latest round of the WHO surveillance report, the number of children who missed out during the latest round of pulse polio was 0.38 per cent in Bihar, the lowest in the country.

Sinha said the health department ensured that the vaccination teams reached all destinations irrespective of their location and in many cases, members of these teams even use boats to reach out to the target group. “Special emphasis was laid to reach out to people of all communities to address their doubts,” he said.

The regional team leader of WHO national polio surveillance project (NPSP), Dr Hemant Shukla, said 60 satellite offices were set up in the Kosi region for the pulse polio rounds and special emphasis was laid on the migrant population.

Gates’s letter to the chief minister praises the efforts of the government. “Tremendous effort has gone into the development of a strong polio programme in Bihar — from addressing community resistance to the vaccine and reaching migrant communities to establishing a state-of-the-art AFP (acute flaccid paralysis) surveillance system — making it a model for similar efforts not only in India, but worldwide,” reads the missive.

The Times of India, 28 February, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120228/jsp/frontpage/story_15187104.jsp


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