India: 17 Cr Children To Get Polio Drops

Polio National Immunisation Day, also known as Polio Ravivar is underway across the country, administering polio drops to nearly 17 crore children under the age of five.

On Saturday, President Ram Nath Kovind launched the drive with the fire round of the Pulse Polio Programme for this year in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Polio Immunisation drive will continue till February 2.

"The countrywide drive will be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors, and many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Rotary", an official release from the Health ministry read.

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, it added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "Before the start of the program, India had 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".

The drive was earlier scheduled from January 17, however was postponed due to the nationwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.