Pulse polio drive held amid vaccination goof up

Hyderabad: The pulse polio drive was conducted across Telangana on Sunday. Authorities targeted to administer doses to 37 lakh children between 0 and 5-year-old in all 33 districts. The polio booths were kept open until 6 pm and the health department officials said that they it would be late evening before they get consolidated figures from all districts.

As per initial reports till 8 pm in GHMC limits, the drive received positive response with over 90 per cent dosages (two drops to each child) given in some areas while in some places it was about 70 per cent. Officials attributed the mixed turnout in some areas due to hot temperatures on Sunday.

Officials were little apprehensive about the pulse polio drive on Sunday following the recent wrong medication goof up at Nampally Health Centre after the staff administered Pentavalent vaccine to infants. This nationwide drive was held within three days after that shocking incident and hence the health department had its concerns.

When asked whether there was any impact of it on the polio drive, officials said they could not see such worries from residents. A door-to-door drive would be held in all places in the State in the next three days to cover the expected target, officials added.All health staff including ANMs, ASHA workers, volunteers, Mahila Mandali members, nursing student and teachers were involved in this drive.

However, unlike previous years when the drive was held in two rounds every year, the Government of India is conducting it only once because polio cases have become nil in the country for quite some time.

The last poliovirus case was seen in India in West Bengal State in January 2011 and from last eight years, no case was reported from anywhere across the country. WHO also gave Polio free certification to South-East Asia region in March 2014.