World Polio Day: How India managed to eradicate polio

In 2009, India had reported 741 polio cases, the highest successful the world, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. In January 2011, India reported its past polio case, successful West Bengal’s Howrah. The turnaround, successful the look of immense challenges, was a large occurrence communicative of India’s healthcare system, and learnings from the process were utilised during the Covid-19 vaccination thrust recently.

India bushed polio done coordination betwixt assorted levels of authorities and planetary assistance agencies, palmy messaging, overcoming taste barriers, and ensuring last-mile coverage. Here’s a little relationship of however the communicative unfolded.

First, the challenges

India had a immense population, with millions surviving successful crowded settlements with inadequate hygiene arrangements. Challenges successful antithetic parts of the state were wholly different. Many parts of the state were geographically hard to access. On apical of this were fears of the vaccine, calved retired of spiritual beliefs and a mistrust of the authorities machinery.

Narrowing down connected the problem

Vaccination against polio began successful 1972, and expanded successful 1985 arsenic the country-wide Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). For polio, 1 immunisation time would beryllium fixed for the full state and consciousness created astir it. The information that polio drops could beryllium fixed orally and not arsenic an injection was an advantage, arsenic section wellness workers could administer them adjacent without peculiar training.

Vaccination drives would beryllium held connected festivals, astatine railway stations, and immoderate spot wherever a ample fig of radical gathered.

Special consciousness camps were held for mothers, wherever they were addressed by women of their assemblage and societal class, speaking their language.

Celebrities similar Amitabh Bachchan were roped successful to make awareness. According to a UNICEF report, “Building connected the immense scope of soap operas, polio and different wellness messages were woven into storylines and episodes.”

The polio vaccination tagline — bash boond zindagi ki (two drops of life) — inactive has callback value.

Polio often spreads done the feces of the infected person, which others tin travel successful interaction with from contaminated nutrient and water, mediocre hygiene, etc. Thus, on with vaccination, the value of washing hands, boiling drinking water, giving lone breastmilk to babies beneath six months of age, etc. was besides communicated to people.

The efforts were led by the Centre and authorities governments, supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, US Center for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC), Rotary International, and donors similar the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

By 2008, cases had begun to diminution successful galore parts of the country. According to a UNICEF report, “In 2009, the polio partners recovered that much than 80 per cent of polio cases were persistently occurring successful conscionable 107 blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”

Efforts were scaled up to people these regions.

Monitoring

A cornerstone of the strategy was effectual surveillance and monitoring of high-risk groups. According to a probe insubstantial by Toronto-based Reach Alliance, “Availing itself of the expertise of the World Health Organization (WHO), India developed a robust surveillance system… Without this multilayered surveillance system, cases of polio among the hardest-to-reach groups were being missed, starring to continued transmission.”

This progressive monitoring the occurrence of acute flaccid paralysis successful children, which is often caused by the polio virus, and past immunising those astir the affected child. For this, a web of ‘informers’ was built, including assemblage wellness workers, section residents, doctors, religion healers etc.

Special strategy for migrants

A large occupation successful Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was seasonal migration for work, which meant a acceptable of radical fell done monitoring cracks. To screen migrants, vaccination drives were conducted astatine their residential camps. Daily wage workers did not privation to miss a day’s net successful taking their kids for immunisation, truthful vaccination camps were organised keeping successful caput their enactment timings.

Overcoming religious, taste barriers against polio vaccine

Vaccine hesitancy stemmed from rumours that it could marque children impotent. The Muslim assemblage had spiritual objections. For this, assemblage leaders similar imams and maulanas were roped in. Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia besides made consciousness efforts. “For example, 1 rumour was that the OPV was manufactured utilizing pig humor which is deemed to beryllium haram oregon forbidden successful Muslim culture. To dispel this, influential Islamic leaders issued a fatwa (a ruling successful Islamic law) to corroborate that the OPV was halal,” the Reach Alliance insubstantial says.