Kalam to launch national polio immunisation campaign tomorrow

New Delhi, Jan 5 (UNI) After facing the resurgence of polio last year, the national polio immunisation would be launched on a large scale this year by President A P J Abdul Kalam here tomorrow.

Under the campaign about 17 crore children upto the age of five years in all states and union territories would be given polio drops on Sunday.

A concerted efforts would be made by government agencies, NGOs, UNICEF and WHO to eliminate the crippling disease from the country.

India, which is one of the few countries where polio is prevalent, was closer to elimination of polio in 2005 with only 66 cases. However, due to spread of virus in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the number of polio cases rose to 624 in 2006.

Out of the total cases, Uttar Pradesh has reported 509 polio cases (90 per cent) followed by Bihar where 52 children have been afflicted with the paralytic disease. Delhi has reported six cases.

The government is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to achieve the target of polio elimination by involving celebraties, NGOs, religious leaders for awareness campaign against the disease.

UNI