An infant being administered polio vaccine drops. India has not recorded a single case of polio in 12 months — the longest ever.
NEW DELHI: India has not recorded a single case of polio in 12 months - the longest ever.
However, the Indian strain of wild poliovirus imported by several other countries like Angola, Lebanon, Tajikistan, Bangladesh and Namibia has caused multiple outbreaks in the last decade.
The strain crippling children in Congo- 92 cases in 2011 - also came from India.
"India exported poliovirus to other countries in the past and is now at risk of poliovirus import into the country through the same route," said the Union health ministry.
India has increased surveillance against polio along the Line of Control (LOC), bordering Pakistan. Vaccination booths have been set up at Chakdabagh (Poonch) and Kaman (Baramulla) in Jammu and Kashmir, Munabao railway station in Barmer district of Rajasthan and at Wagah border and Attari railway station in Punjab to administer polio drops to all children below 5 years coming in from Pakistan.
Pakistan, reeling under a polio outbreak, reported over 190 cases last year, and also exported the crippling virus to China that was polio-free for 20 years.
Pakistan is affected nationwide by transmission of the P1 strain and was also the only country in Asia last year to have the P3 virus also, which is on the verge of elimination elsewhere in the continent.
Dr Hamid Jafari, project manager WHO-NPSP, said "complacency will be India's biggest enemy. Second biggest threat is import. In 2010, India exported the polio virus to Tajikistan, where around 350 children were affected. The virus then spread to Russia. Even in Congo the Indian strain established itself and is still in circulation."
However, India's latest success in controlling the spread of the virus has tremendously increased global demand for Indian doctors working in the national polio surveillance programme.
Nigeria, one of the world's polio endemic countries, wants inputs from India on ways to control the virus. Congo, Chad, Uganda and Kenya have all asked India for expertise on polio eradication.
Dr Jafari added, "With India's success story, there is ongoing discussion of a global emergency operation against polio. With polio circulation halted in India, this is the closest we have come for a global eradication."
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India has spent Rs 12,000 crore on curbing polio control.
"We need to ensure no case of polio infection for the next three consecutive years for India to celebrate eradication of poliomyelitis... in 2009, India with 741 cases had accounted for nearly half the global cases," Azad said.
However, the Indian strain of wild poliovirus imported by several other countries like Angola, Lebanon, Tajikistan, Bangladesh and Namibia has caused multiple outbreaks in the last decade.
The strain crippling children in Congo- 92 cases in 2011 - also came from India.
"India exported poliovirus to other countries in the past and is now at risk of poliovirus import into the country through the same route," said the Union health ministry.
India has increased surveillance against polio along the Line of Control (LOC), bordering Pakistan. Vaccination booths have been set up at Chakdabagh (Poonch) and Kaman (Baramulla) in Jammu and Kashmir, Munabao railway station in Barmer district of Rajasthan and at Wagah border and Attari railway station in Punjab to administer polio drops to all children below 5 years coming in from Pakistan.
Pakistan, reeling under a polio outbreak, reported over 190 cases last year, and also exported the crippling virus to China that was polio-free for 20 years.
Pakistan is affected nationwide by transmission of the P1 strain and was also the only country in Asia last year to have the P3 virus also, which is on the verge of elimination elsewhere in the continent.
Dr Hamid Jafari, project manager WHO-NPSP, said "complacency will be India's biggest enemy. Second biggest threat is import. In 2010, India exported the polio virus to Tajikistan, where around 350 children were affected. The virus then spread to Russia. Even in Congo the Indian strain established itself and is still in circulation."
However, India's latest success in controlling the spread of the virus has tremendously increased global demand for Indian doctors working in the national polio surveillance programme.
Nigeria, one of the world's polio endemic countries, wants inputs from India on ways to control the virus. Congo, Chad, Uganda and Kenya have all asked India for expertise on polio eradication.
Dr Jafari added, "With India's success story, there is ongoing discussion of a global emergency operation against polio. With polio circulation halted in India, this is the closest we have come for a global eradication."
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India has spent Rs 12,000 crore on curbing polio control.
"We need to ensure no case of polio infection for the next three consecutive years for India to celebrate eradication of poliomyelitis... in 2009, India with 741 cases had accounted for nearly half the global cases," Azad said.
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