President Of India Inaugurates National Immunization Day By Administering Polio Drops To Children At Rashtrapati Bhavan

The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil inaugurated the National Immunization Day by administering polio drops to a group of children at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Speaking on the occasion the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Pulse Polio Campaign which was launched in 1995 has seen success with countrywide cases of polio which used to be in the thousands having come down to hundreds. However, there is still a long way to go to eradicate polio in the country, he added. The Minister further said that the incidence of polio is still high in Uttar Pradesh and in the Kosi River belt in Bihar. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shall launch a multi-pronged strategy in which a cleanliness campaign shall also be part of the Pulse Polio Campaign, the Minister informed. In this round of the Pulse Polio Campaign, the Bivalent Vaccine is being introduced in Bihar and in Uttar Pradesh in the next round to tackle the P-I and P-III strains of polio.

This release issued at 12:45 hrs.