Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal administered polio drops to children and inaugurated the first phase of pulse polio programme here on Sunday.The Speaker administered polio drops to children at the Chhattisgarh Club in the city. He said that the joint efforts of Union Health Ministry and the Chhattisgarh Health Department along with International Health organisations have helped to attain polio free status for India, adding, there is need to make parents aware of the pulse polio drive.
The occasion was marked with presence of former Minister Prem Sai Singh, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) KR Sonwani, Dr Vimal Rai and others. The CMHO informed that in the first phase of pulse polio programme, more than 3.24 lakh children would be administered polio drops. For achieving this task, 1,224 vaccination centres have been made along with mobile units. During the drive, polio drops will also be administered in railway stations and bus stands. Apart from Health Department employees, students of Medical college, GNT, BSc Nursing and MMI are also providing their assistance in the drive.
Notably, an estimated number of 35.90 lakh children under 5-years were administered polio vaccine in the first round of pulse polio drive in Chhattisgarh on Sunday . The State Government has established 23,000 vaccination centres across all the districts in the State to ensure that no child is left out. Preparations are already begun with the supply of 43 lakh doses of vaccine by the Government of India to the Chhattisgarh.
Vaccines are also distributed to all the districts according to the needs. A total of 23,000 vaccination centres will be spread from cities to the remotely situated villages. A total of 3,235 areas, where the vaccination centres will be setup, are marked as high-risk areas. Arrangements have also been made to keep the vaccines safe and effective by keeping them inside special containers at low temperature. Nearly 80 Government staff will be engaged in the vaccination drive. Revenue, Woman and Child Development, School Education, Social Welfare, Urban Development Authority, Municipal Corporations, Agriculture, Panchayat Volunteer Organisations will be assisting the Health Department in the conduct of the programme.