Since January 13, 2011, India has not reported a single case of the devastating polio disease. Being on the brink of the two-year anniversary of that date, India has remained staunch in its struggle against the highly contagious viral infection. Just last February, the World Health Organization removed India from the list of polio endemic countries, but neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to be polio endemic. This is troubling for India as their struggle versus polio continues. However, India’s remarkable medical achievement of eradicating polio from its territories should not be overlooked.
To combat polio entering from outside the country’s borders, checkpoints have been set up in which polio immunizations are given at the Pakistan borders of Baramulla and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, Attari and Wagah in Punjab and Munabo in Rajasthan. Pakistan reports one-third of the total overall cases of polio reported worldwide each year, and recorded a 37% increase of polio cases in 2011.
India’s vaccination strategy includes setting up a network of 2.3 million vaccinators visiting 209 million homes to administer the polio vaccine. National polio immunization days are held twice a year, along with several other immunization days held in states which are known to be ‘high-risk’ polio territories. Of particular interest to India’s immunization program is what is known as the migrant population of India, which is the group of workers who are continually moving around the country searching for work and/or bouncing between seasonal jobs. Because these workers may contract the infection and then travel across the country, this movement of polio is difficult to track and a challenging obstacle to face. So far, India has proved successful in preventing the spread of polio via the migrant population.
Comparing the number of polio cases over the past few decades, it is difficult to fathom how successful India’s fight against polio has been. According to medical information in 1985 the country recorded 150,000 cases of polio during that year. In 2009 that number was reduced to 741 and in 2010 that number was further reduced to a mere 42 cases of polio. Since April 2011, 2.66 million children under five years of age have been vaccinated along the India-Nepal border, and along the India-Pakistan border another 3,596 have been vaccinated since mid-2011. First, children are administered two drops of polio vaccine. Then, to signify they have already been vaccinated, one of their fingers painted with permanent marker. This is known as the child’s ‘purple pinky.’
India’s efforts against polio are being replicated by Nigeria, the only other country besides Pakistan and Afghanistan to be on the World Health Organization’s polio endemic list. Nigeria has taken steps to reduce the number of its polio cases, attempting to replicate India’s strategy of routine immunizations, early-age polio medication administration, and a rapid national response to each polio reporting. As annual polio cases continue to decline each year, the effort proves not only countries are able to unite in a worldwide effort against the disease, but also that India remains at the forefront of the fight and remains an ideal country for the last remaining polio endemic countries to shadow.