Polio immunisation drive for 1.9 million children in Budgam - 03 Mar 2024

Parents carrying their children walk along snow-covered road towards the heath centre to be administered a dose of polio vaccine drops during a nationwide Pulse Polio Immunisation (PPI) drive at a government health centre in a remote village in Budgam, north-east of Srinagar. Over 1.9 million children below the age of five will receive the oral polio vaccine on March 3 across 11,000 booths with vaccines dispatched to snow-affected areas through choppers in Jammu and Kashmir. Senior health officials told local media that about 45,000 healthcare workers will be involved in the process to ensure no child is left behind. India rolled out the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme on October 2, 1994, when the country accounted for around 60% of the global polio cases. Within two decades, India received ëpolio-free certificationí from the World Health Organisation, along with the entire Southeast Asia Region, on March 27, 2014, with the last polio case being reported in Howrah, in eastern India's West Bengal state, on January 13, 2011. India conducts one nationwide and two sub-national vaccination days for polio every year to maintain population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio-free status. Over 1.9 million children below the age of five will receive the oral polio vaccine on March 3 across 11,000 booths with vaccines dispatched to snow-affected areas through choppers in Jammu and Kashmir. Senior health officials told local media that about 45,000 healthcare workers will be involved in the process to ensure no child is left behind. India rolled out the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme on October 2, 1994, when the country accounted for around 60% of the global polio cases. Within two decades, India received 'polio-free certification' from the World Health Organisation, along with the entire Southeast Asia Region, on March 27, 2014, with the last polio case being reported in Howrah, in eastern India's West Bengal state, on January 13, 2011. India conducts one nationwide and two sub-national vaccina