WHO DG hails Ramadoss for polio campaign, assures WHO assistance

New Delhi, Sep 27 (UNI) World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan has appreciated Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' leadership for the polio eradication efforts and expressed confidence that India would soon become polio-free.

Congratulating Dr Ramadoss for getting the Polio Champion Award from Rotary International in recognition of his critical role in leading the polio eradication efforts in India, the WHO Director General hoped that under his continued leadership and sustained political and financial support from the Union Government and the state government of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in 2007-08, the country would soon become polio-free and attain a historic milestone.

In her communication sent earlier this year, the WHO official said that Dr Ramadoss' personal commitment and the strong support of the Union Government for polio eradication had yielded significant results during the past six months.

''Polio in India is now primarily restricted to a few districts in two states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and there has been a sharp decline in the number of type 1 polio cases in 2007. I want to reassure you that the strategic focus on combating type 1 polio virus, even while there is a focal outbreak of type 3 polio in some districts this year, has been effective,'' she said.

She said the WHO was ready to assist India in its efforts to deliver a perpetual gift of a polio-free world to all its children.

UNI