70 lakh kids to get polio drops on Dec 21, Jan 1

About 70 lakh children in Tamil Nadu under the age of five would be administered Polio drops as part of the two-phase Intensive Pulse Polio Immunization Programme on December 21 and January one.

An official release here said the State Government has made elaborate arrangements by setting up 40,399 immunization booths in Government Hospitals, Primary Health Centres, Health Sub Centres, Noon Meal centres, Schools and other important places. Transit booths have also been set up at Railway Stations, Bus Stands, Temples and tourist spots. Mobile teams have also been constituted to cover the population in remote and inaccessible areas. About two lakh personnel, including volunteers from NGOs like Rotary would be involved in this mass campaign. Private doctors have also been requested to open their clinics on the two days to administer Polio drops to the children irrespective of the previous immunization status. The immunisation campaign was being organised as part of Polio eradication activities. Due to successful implementation of IPPI campaigns, the State has not reported any polio case for the fifth successive year. In view of incidence of wild Polio virus continuing in other States, it was essential to administer the drops to prevent importation of polio virus from other States.

Poliomyelitis was a crippling disease of childhood caused by polio virus, which was transmitted by faecal contamination of water and food materials -- faeco-oral route of transmission. The affected children would remain paralyzed (either in one or both the limbs) for the rest of their lives. The only way to overcome the problem was to prevent the disease by administering oral polio vaccine during routine immunization and pulse polio campaign days.

-- (UNI) -- 17MS18.xml

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