India Needs to Remain Vigilant as Neighboring Nations are not Polio-free
Because the neighbouring nations still have polio, India must be alert and maintain its polio vaccination programme, according to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who added that door-to-door vaccination drives would be performed to guarantee that no one is left aside.
In the following months, nearly 15 crore children under the age of 5 would be vaccinated for polio, according to the minister, who began the National Polio Immunisation Drive for 2022 by delivering polio drops to children under the age of 5 at the Ministry of Health.
The Universal Immunisation Programme, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is focusing on protecting kids from more illnesses than ever before and has recently introduced numerous new vaccines such as the Rotavirus vaccine, the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV), as well as Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine, according to Mandaviya.
In addition, he noted, the government has included the injectable Inactivated Polio Vaccine in its standard vaccination programme to offer additional protection to youngsters.
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“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 child of our country,” the minister said.
He emphasised the importance of commemorating National Immunization Day, saying, “The aim of Swasth Bharat can only be achieved if our children are healthy. Mission Indradhanush or Polio Vaccination Drive aims to protect our children against such deadly diseases. Since our neighbouring countries are still not polio-free, we should remain vigilant and continue the vaccination programme.”
“Though India is polio-free, it is still our responsibility to remain vigilant. Transit teams have been deployed in all the states to ensure immunisation and continuous pulse polio implementation at borders is happening as our neighbouring countries are still reporting polio cases,” he said.
The Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) would be held across the nation (February 27). Each year, India holds one National Immunization Day (NID) plus two Sub-National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) for polio to sustain population immunity to wild poliovirus and preserve its polio-free status.
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