Anti-polio drops administered to children across city

New Delhi, Feb 11 (UNI) With the start of the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme here anti-polio drops were administered to the children across the city today to embark upon a polio free nation.

The Delhi Government has specifically targeted the areas, vulnerable to the spread of the polio virus. About 7,500 polio booths have been established to reach all parts of the city, according to sources.

Around 30,000 health department employees had been pressed into service from 0900 hours to 1600 hrs, to reach the maximum number of children.

The booths had been put up at railway stations, ISBTs, public places like Appu Ghar, major temples, metro stations, Millennium Park, Delhi Zoo and MacDonald outlets. Apart from this a door-to-door week-long survey was also conducted under 'search and immunisation' Pulse Polio Campaign.

About 8,600 teams comprising 17,000 workers visited different colonies, including slums and JJ Clusters, to search for the children who were not administered polio drops.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit launched the Pulse Polio campaign yesterday by administering anti-polio drops to a number of children at the Secretariat.

Speaking on the occasion, she expressed confidence that Delhi would continue to be a polio-free state.

The only threat in this regard was from certain neighbouring states which contributed substantially to the huge migration of people into the national capital, she said.

In addition to this, floating population that came to Delhi everyday in connection with the employment and other works could also be responsible for the cases of polio in Delhi, she added.

''Last year around, 300 cases of polio were detected in different parts of the country which is also becoming cause of concern for the Delhi government,'' she further added.

The chief minister said the state government was trying to ensure that no polio virus entered the national capital territory.

''For making a strong nation, we must have strong children, which would only be possible with the success of Pulse Polio Programme.'' ''Our state has shown better results in this field. Being a pioneer in the Pulse Polio Programme Delhi is regarded a role model and it will continue to strive, to eliminate polio completely.'' Ms Dikshit complimented health department officials for their efforts.

Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, who also administered polio drops to children, expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club and other NGOs for making Pulse Polio Campaign a success in Delhi.

UNI