Question : National Immunisation Day

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has launched the National Immunization Day Programme also known as “Polio Ravivar”, if so, the details thereof along with the awareness campaign launched for the programme;

(b) the number of States which have participated in the National Immunisation day programme along with the number of children vaccinated, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the Government has formulated any action plan to get the status of polio free nation, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the country runs a high risk of importing the polio virus from its neighbouring countries particularly Pakistan, Afghanistan, if so, the corrective steps taken in this regard; and

(e) the details of action plan for the continuation of pulse polio vaccination programme in the country and the steps taken to eradicate polio from the country?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): Yes, the Government has launched the National Immunization Day programme also known as “Polio Ravivar”.

The programme was launched by Hon’ble President of India on 18 January 2020.

The awareness of the programme were carried out through hoardings, banners, posters, print media, social media, radio and TV spots, rallies, miking etc.

(b): All the 37 States/UTs have participated in the National Immunization day programme and nearly 15.97 crores children vaccinated. State/UT-wise details of number of children vaccinated is given at annexure.

(c): India continues to remain polio free for 9 years since the last case that was reported on 13 January 2011.

Government has undertaken the following activities to maintain the polio-free status:

1. High quality Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance and environmental surveillance to identify any polio virus circulation.

2. Vaccination against polio is provided with oral and injectable polio vaccines to give double protection. Country continues to observe one National Immunization Day (NID) and two Sub-National Immunization Days (SNID) each year as per recommendations of India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) for Polio.


3. Cross-border vaccination is being carried out throughout the year and nearly 141.39 lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated till Nov 2019. Polio vaccination carried out for nearly 2.99 lakh international travellers travelling to and from eight polio infected/high risk countries namely Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria till Nov 2019.

4. Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) is in place to mitigate risk and respond quickly to any polio emergency.


(d): Government has undertaken the following actions to mitigate risk of importation of polio virus from its neighbouring countries particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan:

1. Cross-border vaccination of nearly 70,000 travellers each year at India-Pakistan land borders.
2. Environmental surveillance is being carried out in states of Gujarat and Punjab.
3. Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) is in place to mitigate risk and respond quickly to any polio emergency.

(e): The India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on polio has recommended one National Immunization Day round and two Sub National Immunization Day rounds in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Regional Certification Commission (RCC) of South East Asia Regional (SEAR) of WHO on 27th March 2014 certified SEAR countries including India polio free. Country continues to maintain the polio free status since then.