Pulse Polio 2021: President Kovind launches countrywide immunisation drive

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday launched the pulse polio programme for 2021 by administering polio drops to children below five years of age at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in the presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey. 

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Prez launches countrywide Pulse Polio 2021 programme

On the eve of the Polio National Immunization Day, which is observed on January 31, also popularly known as "polio Ravivar", President Kovind and First lady Savita Kovind administered polio drops to children. According to the release by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), around 12 crore children of less than 5 years of age will be given polio drops as part of the drive launched by the Government of India to sustain the country's polio-free status. 

The release by the MoHFW read, "The countrywide drive will be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors and many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), WHO, UNICEF, Rotary etc. Healthcare workers will be visiting as many as 2 crore households to ensure that no child is left without the protection of the polio vaccine."

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Speaking at the launch event, Dr Harsh Vardhan expressed deep gratitude towards the President and the First Lady for their kind presence and also reminisced his personal journey of leading the fight against Polio as Delhi Health Minister at the time when India accounted for 60 per cent of all Polio cases globally. The Health Minister also appreciated the efforts of State Governments and the supporting organizations like WHO, UNICEF and Rotary International etc., for strengthening the efforts of the government not only for polio programme but also for other initiatives in immunization. 

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Cherishing the success of Pulse Polio Immunization Programme, which was conceived in December 1993, the Union Health Minister said, "Before the start of the program, India has 60 per cent caseload of Polio worldwide. With the last case of Polio reported in Howrah on January 13, 2011, the country has been free of Polio for a decade now."

Giving out further details, Vardhan said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Universal Immunization Program is focussing to protect children from more diseases than ever before and several new vaccine-like Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine and Measles-Rubella vaccines have also been introduced. To provide additional protection to our children, Government of India has also introduced the injectable Inactivated Polio Vaccine into its routine immunization program,” he added.

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Detailing on the mitigation measures that the government has taken, he noted the efforts in strengthening routine immunization: “While we are making efforts to protect our children from more and more diseases, it is important that all vaccines under the programme reach every last child of our country. The lessons learnt from polio programme are being implemented to strengthen routine immunization by carrying out Mission Indradhanush, Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Intensified Mission Indradhanush I and II– a drive toward 90% full immunization coverage of India by year 2018 and to sustain it thereafter," he said.

In order to close gaps that might have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, another phase of Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 3.0) has been planned in 250 high-risk districts of the country during February and March 2021. In addition to this, guidance for conduction of Sub-National Immunization days for polio and sensitive surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases during pandemic has also been issued to States,” he added. 

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