No new case of polio has been reported in Himachal Pradesh since 2009, said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday. The last polio case was detected in Nalagarh block in Solan district in 2009 and the state has remained polio-free since then, said he while launching the first phase of the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme here.
The CM said that around 6,83,356 children of less than five years age will be given polio drops throughout the state for which 5868 regular booths had been set up. The vaccination teams would visit about 13, 95,185 households under this programme to cover the targeted children.
He said 117 transit teams had been constituted to cover children on the move adding that 1,237 high risk pockets mostly in slum and construction sites had also been identified where as many as 37,106 children would be administered polio drops.
The Chief Minister said that polio was a crippling disease which could lead to life long disability and especially children could have tremendous negative mental and social impact. Therefore, the pulse polio immunization programme was a very vital step in eradicating this disease and the programme would continue with the same intensity in the future also to protect the children from this potentially fatal infectious disease, he added.