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Polio Eradication in India

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Presented at: India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) Meeting

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Summary

This PowerPoint presentation was part of a December 2006 meeting hosted by the India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) and held in New Delhi, India. Participating organisations included the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

This presentation gives the epidemiological profile of polio in India over the last decade, including the number of reported cases, geographic distribution and serotype distribution of wild poliovirus (WPV). Specific focus is given to the area of western Uttar Pradesh. The quality of supplementary immunisation activities (SIAs) is also discussed, and demonstrated as showing significant improvement in the latter half of 2006.

According to this presentation, vaccination in the western Uttar Pradesh region is presenting more of a challenge in Muslim rather than Hindu communities. Data for 2004 to 2006 shows a consistently higher proportion of Hindu children having received 10 or more doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) than Muslim children. The effects of the religious discrepancy in this region were illustrated, and reflected that 68% of WPV cases are seen in Muslims as opposed to 32% in Hindus.

Immunisation statistics for children ranging from one to five years of age in Uttar Pradesh were discussed extensively in this presentation. The majority of WPV cases in 2006 were seen in children under 2 years of age. Estimates were also given for the impact of different strategies on reducing the number of susceptible children in Uttar Pradesh for 2007.

The expectations for the status of polio in India by February 2007 is that transmission will continue only in key core areas, including western Uttar Pradesh and selected districts of Bihar. The primary issues for the upcoming year included:

  • Maintaining the level of SIA quality reached by late 2006
  • Continuing efforts to immunise the underserved
  • Protecting the younger and most susceptible children

In conclusion, strategies for more rapid and effective protection of younger children were discussed. Technical issues included the following:

  • Vaccine effectiveness
  • Strategies for rapidly increasing immunity in young children
  • Birth dose
  • Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV)

Communications and operational improvement were also seen as key strategic areas for consideration.

For the full presentation, please see contact details below.