People traveling from India to seven polio-endemic countries or coming from these places are required to have polio vaccination and produce a certificate for it, according to a new directive of the Union government effective from this month.
The notification of the Union health and family welfare ministry states that Indians going to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria would have to take the oral polio vaccine at least four weeks prior to their departure.
Nationals of these countries applying for an entry visa to India would have to produce a certificate of vaccination. However, the vaccination would not be required for those in transit through these countries.
Last month, India was declared a polio-free country by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after three consecutive years without a polio case and the vaccination, which has been made mandatory from March 1, is a precaution to prevent the re-entry of the disease.
Following the notification, the Maharashtra government directed state-run hospitals to make arrangements to implement the order. The JJ hospital in Mumbai that is already administering the polio vaccine has arranged to also issue certificates to those taking the vaccination.
The last known polio case was that of an 18-month-old baby girl, in West Bengal, in February 2011. But India remains susceptible due to the high incidence in some neighbouring countries.
According to WHO, Pakistan has continued to see a rising number of polio cases. In 2013, 92 cases were diagnosed, as compared to 58 cases in 2012. A United Nations campaign to tackle the disease in that country has been severely hampered by a ban on vaccinations by the Taliban, which has denounced vaccines as an international plot to sterilize Muslims.
In Afghanistan, the situation is encouraging as the number of wild polio virus cases have actually dropped from 37 in 2012 to 14 last year.
"Cross-country import or export of virus continues to be an area of concern. The Union and state governments have taken a tough stand on this," said Dr TP Lahane, dean, JJ hospital. He explained that the authorities were in the process of framing rules and procedures.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}