Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday launched the pulse polio campaign by administering polio drops to the children upto five years old here.
Virbhadra Singh said that Himachal Pradesh had already been declared polio free in 2009 and the last case of polio was reported of a migrant labour child at Nalagarh.
He said that Himachal Pradesh has added another feather to its cap of being topmost state in India with more than 82 per cent of fully immunized children. The State Government was working consistently towards Mission Indradhanush to achieve 100 per cent immunisation coverage in the State.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government had introduced Pentavalent vaccine and Rota vaccine in its immunisation program for preventing children from Pneumonia and Diarrhoea.
He said that the Pentavalent vaccine has been a part of vaccination programme since September 2015 whereas Rota Vaccine was started in Kangra district in December 2015, making it the first district in the entire country to start this programme.
More than one lakh children would benefit from the immunisation and other health programs initiated by the State Government, added he.
Virbhadra Singh said that the second phase of pulse polio drive would be launched on February 21 and the drive would take place simultaneously in all 12 districts.
He said that the target was to cover 6.7 lakh children with polio drops in the state for which 5895 booths and 117 various transit points such as bus stands and railway stations had been set up along with 220 mobile teams. Nearly 22,000 workers including ANMs, Anganwari and Asha workers would join hands to administer two drops of polio vaccine to the targeted children, said the Chief Minister.