President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Pulse Polio programme for 2019 on Saturday by administering polio drops to children below five years at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Kovind administered the polio drops on the eve of National Immunisation Day, which is observed on Sunday, a statement issued by the Health Ministry said. More than 17 crore children below five years across the country will be given polio drops as part of the central government’s drive to sustain polio eradication from the country, it said.
Speaking at the function, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said under the leadership of PM Modi, Universal Immunisation Programme is focusing to protect children from more diseases than ever before and has introduced several new vaccines like pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, rotavirus vaccine and measles-rubella vaccine in the recent past. “To provide additional protection to our children, the Govt has also introduced the injectable inactivated polio vaccine into its routine immunisation programme,” Nadda said.