Polio outbreak in India: Annan expresses concern

September 11, 2006 (New Delhi): India was meant to be polio free by 2005. Instead it is facing a sharp upsurge in polio cases, worrying global leaders.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has now written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing concern over the large number of polio cases reported this year.

Calling it an outbreak, Annan said many countries, which have completely eradicated the disease, face the threat of getting re-infected.

Global concern

"There is global concern about the outbreak in Uttar Pradesh, which has spread the wild virus to other polio-free parts within the country and other countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Angola and Namibia and I urge you to ensure all possible means to contain this outbreak," said Annan.

"We have come to know about Mr Annan's concerns," said Sobhan Sarkar, Consultant, Pulse Polio Programme.

While last year, Uttar Pradesh reported 27 cases, the number of cases has shot up phenomenally to 255 this year.

Overall in India, there were just 66 cases. This year has seen 283 cases, 90 per cent of these in western UP - the epicentre of polio.

(Source: National Polio Eradication Programme GOI)

"We did not give enough attention to the immunisation process at the beginning of this year. That's why there are so many cases," said Mukesh Kumar Meshram, District Magistrate, Meerut.

Eradicating the virus

Unlike Uttar Pradesh, the rest of India's record has been excellent with 33 states and union territories having completely eradicated the virus.

However, what's worrying agencies like the United Nations is that the UP virus is being exported through people migrating and re-infecting polio-free states like Haryana and Maharashtra and even countries like Nepal and Angola.

"The virus has spread to other states because children affected by the virus travel from Uttar Pradesh to other states," added Meshram.

Since Uttar Pradesh is one of the few places where the wild polio virus still exists, there is enormous pressure on the government to increase immunisation efforts.

A concerned director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has now decided to convene a high-level meeting of top Indian officials in Geneva this week to tackle the current crisis.
Source: NDTV

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