Widespread resurgence of the deadly polio virus in Egypt, Israel and many African countries like Ethiopia, Chad, Kenya and Somalia, where the disease was wiped out some years ago, is giving sleepless night to the Indian Government.
New Delhi fears that the outbreak of the disease in other parts of the globe would cast a shadow on India's polio-eradication efforts, on which the nation has spent a whopping Rs 14,000-crores.
Significantly, India is on the verge of being declared as polio-free country by the World Health Organisation (WHO), as no polio outbreaks have been reported in the last two years.
As a precautionary measure, a wary Union Health Ministry has decided to approach the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to seek polio vaccination certificates from all passengers coming to India from these polio-hit countries.
“We will discuss the matter with the MEA and ask it to direct its Missions in these countries to issue polio vaccine certificates to tourists before they are allowed to visit India,” said a senior Health Ministry official. The move, if implemented, would mean that people travelling to India from these polio-hit nations will have to get certificates from a doctor certifying that they have been given polio vaccine.
As per reports, the strain of polio virus recently discovered in southern Israel is exactly the type of virus that is prevalent in Pakistan, and which existed exclusively in Pakistan until recently. Nigeria and Afghanistan were also known to harbour the polio virus before the disease spread to other nations.
The official said India has increased surveillance against polio along the line of Control (lOC), bordering Pakistan which has recorded a major spurt in polio cases. Vaccination booths have been set up at Poonch and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Munabao railway station in Rajasthan's Barmer district and at Wagah border and Attari railway station in Punjab to administer polio drops to all children below five years coming in from Pakistan.
The Government is thinking of vaccinating Indian adults as well. “We have to ensure that indigenous polio does not rear its head next year too, so that we can get the WHO certificate,” the official added.
However, seeking polio vaccine certificates from these countries will not be an easy affair, he admitted as India never asked polio-endemic nations like Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan to produce certificates because of diplomatic reasons.
Also, way back in 2006 when India had a large number of polio cases, it had opposed such a move proposed by polio-free nations like the Gulf, Europe and the American continent, which had asked Indians to carry polio vaccination certificates of their children.
India had recorded 741 cases of polio in 2009, nearly half the number of global cases. But in a remarkable turn of events, India reported just one case of the crippling disease in 2011.
Since then, India has not reported a single polio case, prompting the WHO to strike it off from the list of polio endemic nations in 2012.
However, the comeback of the contagious and paralytic disease in Israel, Egypt, Somalia and Ethiopia among a few others, has worried global health agencies with the WHO issuing a warning that the “risk to neighboring countries is deemed very high, due to large-scale population movements across the Horn of Africa and persistent immunity gaps in some areas.” The worry about immunity gaps is serious.
The last outbreak of polio in Israel occurred in 1988 and 15 infected patients became paralyzed.
In Somalia and Kenya, there have been 81 cases, more than the 59 cases in the three polio-endemic countries. In Pakistan, while polio has not been stamped out in violence-hit areas, in poverty-hit Somalia, there are concerns about the inability to extend the eradication efforts to those in need.On its part, Israel has now embarked on an emergency inoculation program to protect some 200,000 children from polio.
Prevention better than cure
New Delhi fears that the outbreak of the disease in other parts of the globe would cast a shadow on India's polio-eradication efforts, on which the nation has spent a whopping Rs14,000 crores.
Significantly, India is on the verge of being declared as polio-free country by the World Health Organisation, as no polio case has been reported in the last two years
The move, if implemented, would mean that people travelling to India from these polio-hit nations will have to get certificates from a doctor certifying that they have been given polio vaccine
The official said India has increased surveillance against polio along the line of Control bordering Pakistan which has recorded a major spurt in polio cases The Government is thinking of vaccinating Indian adults as well