World Polio Day is celebrated to encourage the globe to combat polio, a deadly infection which mainly affects children. On this day, it’s essential to commemorate the contributions of health professionals and others who assisted in eradicating polio in numerous countries around the world.
It’s been several centuries since humans have been dealing with the disastrous effects of polio, a highly transmissible and lethal virus infection targeting the nervous system. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, one in every 200 infected people has the risk of being paralysed permanently. This cruel reality drives the observance of the day every year as it is celebrated on October 24 annually. This day has a significant role in enhancing global consciousness of the importance of the polio vaccine and the fight against this debating ailment.
World Polio Day: History
Rotary International established the day in 1985 to recognize the contributions of Jonas Salk, the lead medical researcher in the team that developed the first polio vaccine. Following, there was the push to abolish polio globally through GPEI which is a global campaign, started in 1988 and this was the initiative led by WHO together with Rotary International.
In those days, the cases were estimated to be in the range of 350,000. There has been a great development since then with the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific being termed as polio-free. However, the battle against polio is still in progress in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are experiencing the occasional occurrences of the illness.
World Polio Day 2023: Significance
World Polio Day serves as a reminder of the fight against polio. On this day, major health organizations, such as Rotary International and WHO recognize the dedicated individuals and groups that contribute to the global struggle against polio. This is what reminds people about the fact that they must not let the virus come back and give money in order to wipe it out completely.
World Polio Day is also marked by various events and fundraising activities organized by Rotary International and its affiliated clubs to increase public information about polio.
World Polio Day 2023: Theme
This year, the theme of this observance is “A healthier future for mothers and children.” The World Polio Day 2023 theme not only recognizes the efforts made in the battle to eliminate polio in children but also highlights the unwavering commitment to work towards a brighter and healthier future for both mothers and their children.
Efforts towards a polio-free India
India’s path to becoming polio-free was marked by careful and determined steps. India commemorated 12 years of polio-free status on January 13, 2023, through unrelenting efforts at all levels.
For nearly six years, the project manager of the National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) for WHO India played a pivotal role in ensuring India is polio-free. They acted as technical advisors, supervised vaccination campaigns, and collaborated with government officials to ensure that all children were administered enough doses of the vaccine.
It involved an administration of roughly 1 billion vaccine doses in 172 million children in four consecutive years.
The success of polio eradication in India is credited to several major issues. Government commitment, from district administrators to top leadership, was critical. This commitment translated into active administrative measures that sought to fill in the identified gaps and addressed challenges based on the evidence acquired.
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