When the polio eradication drive did finally take place on Sunday, it did not meet with a lot of success in the city, said health officials from the BMC.
Almost 4.2 lakh children in the city eligible for the oral polio vaccine did not receive it on Sunday
When the polio eradication drive did finally take place on Sunday, it did not meet with a lot of success in the city, said health officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The BMC was able to achieve 69% coverage by offering oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops to 8.80 lakh children, out of the approximately 13 lakh across the city who come under the BMC’s purview.
As part of the drive, free polio vaccination was administrated to children up to the age of five across 7,000 booths in the city. “While the polio drive was a success, when compared to the last round on July 6 (when we achieved just 55% coverage), this drive could have been better with the support of the state government,” said Dr Mangala Gomare, polio eradication project surveillance officer, BMC.
The last immunisation drive which was scheduled to be held on September 21 was cancelled without prior intimation. The BMC received no information from the state government regarding the reasons behind the cancellation. Irate BMC health officials claimed there was very little awareness about the drive on Sunday, as officials were unable to put up banners and posters on time. “We did not receive any support from the state government,” said civic executive health officer, Dr Jayaraj Thanekar.
According to the civic health department, the government did not provide any posters or banners for the campaign. “Usually, we put up thousands of posters at key locations across the city, including bus stops and railway stations. The banners and posters put up a few days in advance do make a difference, which was not possible this time,” Thanekar said. “We had to compensate by announcing the polio eradication drive in areas across the city on loudspeakers,” he added.
The pulse polio drive started in Mumbai in 1995 and has been conducted 59 times since. According to the WHO, poliomyelitis has been eliminated from most of the world, with the exception of India and a few other countries. Microsoft founder Bill Gates launched a public healthcare initiative with special focus on polio eradication on November 5 in Delhi.
So far, 496 polio cases have been reported across the country this year, as opposed to 340 cases last year.
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