Millions of tiny tots given anti-polio vaccine across nation

New Delhi, Mar 11 (UNI) Millions of tiny tots were administered polio vaccine across the country today as part of a nationwide drive to eradicate polio.

The drive was organised in the entire state of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra&Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Punjab and selected districts of Assam ( Cachar, Hailakandi, Karimganj, Dibrugarh and Tinsukhia), Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu, Kathua, Rajouri and Udhampur), Jharkhand ( Deoghar, Dumka, Godda, Pakur and Sahibganj), Rajasthan (Alwar, Bharatpur, Dhaulpur, Jalore and Sirohi), Uttarakhand ( Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar) and West Bengal ( Dakshin Dinajpur, Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district, Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur).

Around 30,000 workers and employees of the Health Department were pressed into service from 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs in the Capital to ensure maximum reach of the polio immunisation drive among children below five years.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri visited the Doon Hospital to administer polio drops to children.

Governor Sudarshan Agarwal initiated the Polio Eradication Campaign in parts of Uttarakhand by administering polio drops to children below five years age at the Raj Bhavan.

The Governor said in year 2006, 676 cases of polio were detected in the country. This year, only 15 cases have been detected so far-- seven in Bihar, four in Uttar Pradesh, two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Haryana and Maharashtra.

In Varanasi, critically acclaimed film personality Farooq Sheikh, in his 'avtaar' as UNICEF goodwill ambassador, walked through the serpentine alleys to streamline efforts aimed at eradicating the crippling polio virus.

Children upto the age of five years were administered anti-polio drops in Madhya Pradesh's Betul, Gwalior, Bhind, Morena, Datia, Shivpuri, Sheopur, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Panna, Indore, Dhar, Jhabua, Barwani, Burhanpur, Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Ratlam districts.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan administered drops to six kids at Karahal in Sheopur Kalan.

The Sub-National Intensified Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) round of 2006-07 concluded in Haryana, in which booth activities were undertaken for administering drops of polio vaccine to approximately 40 lakh children.

A spokesman of the Health Department said in Chandigarh this campaign would continue for another two days by way of house-to house activity to trace out and administer polio vaccine to the left out children.

There were 672 child polio cases registered in the country till February 2006, of which Uttar Pradesh had reported 546, Bihar 61, Delhi seven, Jharkhand one, Haryana 19, Maharashtra five, Madhya Pradesh three, Chandigadh one, Asam two, Himachal one, Punjab eight, West Bengal one, Uttaranchal 13 and Gujarat four.

UNI