The real success of Polio eradication campaign lies in reaching out to the people during each immunization round

and making it a peoples campaign.

Photo: Sonakshi Pandey

Earlier this year, it was announced that it has been a year since any polio case had been reported in India. Our country is on the brink of eradicating this disease which affects thousands of children each year across the globe. In India, 1000 children suffered from Polio every day

as per the

ational Polio !urveillance Pro"ect. #y $00% the numbers

had dropped to & per day. 'his was a ma"or milestone in Polio Eradication. !aurabh 'ripathi, the ()O *epresentative for India, has said that if this momentum is maintained, India will be eligible to get the ()O Polio Eradication +ertificate in a few years.[1] 'he )ealth ,inistry and - I+E. have done a remarkable "ob in the eradicating polio campaign. / wide range of workers and volunteers, from both inside and outside the health sector, had been employed to deliver the polio vaccine and also to monitor progress in virtually every area of the country0 regardless of the infrastructure available. .urther, high level political advocacy and mass mobili1ation were utili1ed to the optimum benefit in this programme. 'he real success of Polio eradication campaign lies in reaching out to the people during each immuni1ation round and making it a peoples campaign. 'here had been minor setbacks due to lack of cooperation from Education and +hild (elfare 2epartments in some !tates0 which fortunately did not deter the effective implementation of the programme. 'he mass media, which is a powerful channel of information to the public, was also used to a large e3tent in the campaign. .or over a decade now, India has witnessed mass campaigns and marketing strategies that had been adopted by the government. 'he message of polio eradication was delivered in a variety of interesting ways with the help of media, such as advertising the commercial advantages of polio vaccination on television. In the past, the support from celebrities has helped to a large e3tent in reaching out to the people

involving them with the campaign. /ctors like /mitabh #achchan have previously helped in promoting awareness about the eradication of Polio through television advertisements. 'he advertisements came with a catchy tag line4 do boond zindagi ki which became famous throughout the country. Players of the IP5 team 6olkata 6night *iders endorsed Polio eradication in India. 'he team members administered Polio drops to promote this drive. 'his initiative was a part of - I+E.7s Bowl Out Polio campaign. 'he concept of Polio Ravivaar has also been instrumental in eradicating this disease. One !unday every month would be chosen, and children below the age of five were administered oral polio vaccination across the country. 'he !unday was popularly known as polio ravivaar. 8overnment hospitals hoisted banners outside their buildings, informing the public of this important day each month. ,oreover, promotion of concept of health as a basic right, supported by leaflets providing more information or reinforcing the message, would be distributed to the public. 'he global polio eradication initiative is headed by ()O, - I+E., *otary International and the +enters for 2isease +ontrol and Prevention. In order populari1e the campaign amongst the higher strata of the society0 *otary International has launched airport baggage tags which said4 9End Polio ;ong4 wook5ee, ()O ow:. has said4 9.or polio

2irector48eneral

campaigns to reach every child, state and district4level governments

must be committed and engaged. Only then can polio4virus transmission be interrupted.: For more details on the issue of Polio Eradication

seewww.polioeradication.org.
http://humanrightsoncampus.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/po io!eradication!india/