Agartala: To make the country polio-free, the central government has asked all the border states to step up thier vaccination efforts to cover all the children entering the country, a Tripura minister said Tuesday.
“Following a World Health Organisation advisory, the (central) government has asked all the border states of the country to carry out non-stop polio vaccination among the children entering the country,” Tripura Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty said.
He said: “We have already started polio vaccination among the children aged up to five years. Permanent polio vaccination centres have been set up at various checkposts along the India-Bangladesh border with Tripura.”
“Children coming into India with their parents or relatives would be administered the polio vaccine in border areas. Indian children would also be vaccinated when they enter India after visiting any country,” said Gautam Debnath, district immunisation officer of West Tripura. “This year-long vaccination programme has been undertaken to declare India a polio-free nation by the next year,” Debnath said.
Though the World Health Organisation (WHO) took India off the list of polio endemic countries in February 2012, it will declare it “polio free” only if no fresh case is reported till the end of this year.
Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours.
“The polio risk in our neighbouring countries is very high. Since the disease is very infectious, the Indian children, who are free from the ailment, can be affected while visiting such countries,” the official added.
According to the official, large-scale population movements including children across the borders might spread the polio disease. (IANS)
