India will have lowest polio incidence next year: Ramadoss

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) India, which has witnessed a resurgence of polio this year with 583 cases being reported, today expressed confidence to bring the incidence of the crippling disease to the lowest next year by launching an all-out effort for its eradication.

''We will have the lowest incidence of polio next year,'' Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here while addressing a joint press conference along with Ms Julie Louise Gerberding, Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in the US.

Dr Ramadoss said he would visit Uttar Pradesh, where 481 cases were detected, next month to convince the religious leaders of minority community to remove their misconception about the polio eradication efforts. He said he had planned to go to UP in November itself but the state government did not allow it due to local elections. However, he clarified that during the past six months, the state government was now cooperating in the polio eradication efforts.

He said that even the International Expert Advisory Group on Polio had advocated an all-out effort to check the disease by launching sub national pulse polio campaign in January and then launching mopping up operation in UP and Bihar where 48 cases of polio were reported this year. Both Monovalent Type I and Monovalent Type III vaccines would be used in these campaigns.

''However, problem of polio is not vaccination but sanitation and hygiene which would be taken care of in the National Rural Health Mission where ASHAs would be appointed to educate households.'' Admitting that complacency had resulted in India having 583 polio cases from just 66 last year, Dr Ramadoss said that now with collaboration of WHO, CDC and other agencies, focussed measures were being taken to check the disease in two problem districts of UP.

''Experience has shown that the last phase is the most expansive and difficult to eradicate. So we cannot be complacent but have to be aggressive,'' Dr Gerverding said. She lauded the Indian efforts to eradicate polio and said that it had brought down the number of polio cases from thousands to few hundreds.

However, sensitive handling of the situation was required and concerted efforts should be made by both the Central government and local bodies, she said.

In 2005, the US government had provided 12.1 million dollars and to date in 2006, it has provided 12.4 million dollars. Funding from the US supports purchase of oral polio vaccines, disease surveillance, vaccination campaign operations and polio laboratory network and social mobilisation through UNICEF, CORE and Rotary.

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