Swabhiman

News Update:New round of Pulse Polio Program in Delhi

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Delhi would continue to strive hard to completely eliminate polio, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said last Saturday while launching another round of Pulse Polio campaign by administering anti-polio drops to children in a simple function organised at Delhi Secretariat.

Ms. Dikshit has urged all parents having children up to 5 years of age to take them for immunisation to the polio booths. She said Delhi Government has made elaborate arrangements for administering anti-polio drops to the children during its program on Sunday.

The Chief Minister said it would be ensured that no virus of polio could enter Delhi. She said for making a strong nation it was necessary to have strong children and this would only be possible with the success of the Pulse Polio Program. ``Our State has shown better results in this field. Delhi initiated Pulse Polio immunisation program in 1994 and launched house to house `Search and Immunisation’ in 1999.

Apart from this, a door-to-door weeklong survey has been conducted under search and immunisation Pulse Polio Campaign. The goal of this was for 17,000 workers in 9,200 teams to visit different colonies including slums and jhuggi jhopri clusters to administer Pulse Polio drops to children who could not be administered the drops on Sunday. Source The Hindu

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Children’s author Peg Kehret ventures into autobiography with this look back into her life in 1949, the year she was 12 and contracted three different types of polio seemingly overnight. Kehret’s personal journey reveals the horrors of polio—the pain, the slow recuperation, the isolation, the paralysis and the torturous treatments she received that facilitated her recovery. Before polio, Peg was excited about junior high —and then, she was in the hospital fighting for her life.

Small Steps provides a first-hand account and will appeal to children and parents alike .

News Update:Pulse polio campaign from Sep 10 to 14- Allahabad

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

There will be a Pulse polio immunisation campaign in Allahabad from September 10 to 14 wherein a total of ten lakh children aged between 0 to 5
years are to be administered polio drops.

For ensuring a cent per cent coverage, a total of 1791 teams have been constituted and they have been entrusted with the task of visiting at least 100 homes each day. In addition, 179 transit and mobile teams too have been formed while 1415 anganwadi workers and 2467 Asha workers too have been pressed into service for assisting the teams.

District development officer, RC Pandey stressed upon the need to learn lessons from the shortcomings of the previous pulse polio campaigns and ensure that the mistakes would not be repeated. Although no case of polio has been reported from the city, the officer expressed dissatisfaction over the working of education department and ICDS employees.

Source TNN

Polio update : India

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:18:00 +0000

49 polio cases in Bihar

Patna, Aug 25 (PTI)

As many as 49 cases of polio have been detected in Bihar, a polio status report said.
Most of the cases were found in Kosi belt, where due to recent floods the polio immunisation programme was hampered.Out of the total detected cases, 16 are highly virulent 'p1' cases.Out of the 236 polio cases reported across India, 181 cases were found in Uttar Pradesh, four in Delhi and one each in Rajasthan and Uttrakhand.

The Polio Ride and David Salai

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:43:00 +0000

David Salai,a Veteran and College Student, embarked on a journey across America with the mission to raise funds Rotary's Polio Campaign.
His blog http://thepolioride09.blogspot.com/ talks about his trip, day by day and is an inspiring read.Till now he has covered 1555 miles.

To Donate to his cause: Follow this link http://www.rotary.org/en/endpolio/Pages/ridefault.aspx

US to work with India on healthcare services: Clinton

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:09:00 +0000

Lastest News Update:

America will work to meet health challenges facing India among other countries and will have a comprehensive dialogue to improve maternal and child healthcare services, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here today.

"US has announced a large commitment to global healthcare policy. Our government is already spending a lot of money on HIV/AIDS but we wanted to add maternal and child health to that commitment as it is important for India," Clinton said.

"Commitment was also in eradication of infectious diseases like Tuberculosis (TB) and Polio which are also problems in India," she said after visiting a Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA)'s trade outlet here.

"We are trying to work with our counterparts in India on these and will have a comprehensive dialogue in solving some of these healthcare challenges," she said.

Source: PTI

BATTLE AGAINST POLIO: WHAT ARE WE UP AGAINST RIGHT NOW?

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Polio. We have all heard of it. In all probability, one knows or has seen people afflicted with it. In any eventuality, we are all aware of it. But how much do we really know about it? Do we need to know about it? After all, we are fine. But are we? We are the human civilization. But how human can a civilization be if it is not able to empathize with the suffering of its’ fellow kind? How far can we go in our fight against polio if we do not know who or how one can contract this disease…if we don’t know how to prevent it? Awareness, Education and Action are the 3 pillars with whose support we can finally bid this dreaded affliction goodbye. It is in this spirit that we at Swabhiman hope to spread awareness about this crippling disease. We hope that by doing so we will help, in some part atleast, in the fight against polio.

The following information is aimed at helping one learn more about this health impairment, how it can be prevented and see where we stand today in our fight to eradicate it. And eradicate it we will.

To begin with, poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is a highly contagious disease that is caused by a virus that primarily lives in the intestines and human feces1,2 It is caused by infection with a member of the genus Enterovirus known as poliovirus (PV). This group of RNA viruses prefers to inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Notably, PV infects and causes disease in humans alone. Three serotypes of poliovirus have been identified—poliovirus type 1 (PV1), type 2 (PV2), and type 3 (PV3). All three are extremely virulent and produce the same disease symptoms. PV1 is the most commonly encountered form, and the one most closely associated with paralysis.

The polio virus is spread from person-to-person primarily through oral contact with the feces of an infected person (for example, by changing diapers); it can also spread through contaminated food or water, especially in areas with poor sanitation systems.1,2 There have also been cases that have been transmitted by direct oral contact or by droplet spread.3 Once inside the body, the poliovirus multiplies in the throat and intestinal tract, then travels through the bloodstream where it infects the brain and spinal cord1,2

Paralysis occurs because the polio virus attacks the nervous system and damages or destroys the nerves that send messages between the brain and the muscles1,2 Infact different types of paralysis may occur, depending on the nerves involved. Spinal polio is the most common form, characterized by asymmetric paralysis that most often involves the legs.

It is important to note that Poliomyelitis is highly contagious and spreads easily by human-to-human contact. In endemic areas (natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place), wild polio viruses can infect virtually the entire human population. India is an endemic country.

To touch upon the history of polio, it was one of the most dreaded diseases of the twentieth century. It left thousands of people, mostly children, crippled in its wake. However, with the invention of the polio virus vaccine and following its widespread use in the mid-1950s, the incidence of poliomyelitis has declined dramatically in many industrialized countries. In fact, the disease has disappeared to quite a large extent, especially from the States and the Western Hemisphere.
Today, the disease has been eliminated from most of the world, and only seven countries worldwide remain polio-endemic. This represents the lowest number of countries with circulating wild polio virus. At the same time, the areas of transmission are more concentrated than ever - 98 percent of all global cases are found in India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Sadly, there is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. Full immunization will markedly reduce an individual's risk of developing paralytic polio and protect most people. At present there are two types of vaccines available:
• A live attenuated (weakened) oral polio vaccine (OPV) developed by Dr. Albert Sabin in 1961. OPV is given orally.
• An inactivated (killed) polio vaccine (IPV), developed in 1955 by Dr. Jonas Salk; unlike OPV, IPV has to be injected by a trained health worker. IPV is 90% effective after 2 doses and 99% effective after 3 doses.
At this juncture, it is important to mention the ‘The Global Polio Eradication Initiative.’ A global effort to eradicate polio began in 1988, led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and The Rotary Foundation. These efforts have reduced the number of annual diagnosed cases by 99%; from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to 1,310 cases in 20075,6
The battle is still on and at this point, we would like to conclude by saying that, “Prevention is the only solution in the case of polio, and Immunization is the only way to prevent polio.”

We invite you to join us in our fight against polio…in our endeavor to make this a polio-free world and thus enable every child a happy today and a bright tomorrow.

In the news: First bivalent polio vaccine being tested in India

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:04:00 +0000

The world's first bivalent vaccine - that will protect children against both P1 and P3 strains of the polio virus - is being tested in India.

Around 900 newborn children in Indore, Chennai and Pune have already been given two doses of the oral bivalent vaccine (BOPV).

Scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) want to see whether the bivalent vaccine, manufactured by Panacea, provides as much immunity to children as the present day vaccine of choice -- monovalent oral polio vaccine (MOPV).
Blood samples of children in trial have already been collected. Being analyzed by the Enterovirus Research Centre in Mumbai, the final results on whether BOPV can be an alternative to MOPV will become clear by April.

In 2008, India recorded 549 polio cases of which 68 were caused by the P1 strain and 481 were P3 infections. In 2007, India recorded 874 cases of polio.

P1 is the most dangerous form of poliovirus as it can cause huge outbreaks and travel long distances. P1 accounted for 95% polio cases in the country till 2006. P1 causes paralysis in one out of every 200 children compared to P3, which causes paralysis in one out of every 1,000 infections.

Source, TNN

Polio: A match abandoned or battle lost ?

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Polio: A match abandoned or battle lost ?

The world may have decided to eradicate polio in the 80s but India still remains one of the four countries still affected by the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in the world besides Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Though our country harbours only two types of Polio virus P1 and P3, it accounted for 549 cases in 2008. This has left the whole world worried and has forced us to rethink where we could have gone wrong in the past.
Despite an intensified push on polio eradication programme, India has not been able to entirely eradicate polio because of its large population density, poor environmental sanitation, prevalence of other viruses, the climate and lack of adequate infrastructure to ensure cent percent immunization coverage in far flung areas of the country.
The battle against polio is far from over as new cases of polio have been detected in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi in the first quarter of 2009 already. Mostly migrant populations have been at the receiving end of lately, having missed immunization while on the move.
Polio affects the poorest sections. The polio virus thrives – and the polio vaccine is incapacitated – in unhygienic and unsanitary conditions. That is why, as per a report in Science journal, Indian children tend to receive 10-15 doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine, when doctors recommend no more than three
When Bill Gates came to India and supported the cause for polio, he had made a very deep commitment indeed. In his words the country has to improve the health system in general, have the communities involved in delivering services, getting vaccines out and so on.
It is heartbreaking to note that that the medical community has been in many ways less than fully behind the initiative that could easily have safeguarded many more children from life threatening paralysis that they didn’t deserve. As far as mobilization is concerned both parents and leaders have been slow to rise up for the cause of polio immunization. In all fairness to the parents, many people who show up to vaccinate their kids do not know why they are there nor they do not know what the right kind of vaccination is. And this is what separates India from the developed countries who have completely eradicated polio and are adopting new strategies like IPV to prevent another recurrence of this nasty disease.
The only way we can go out and put and end to polio is by getting a movement behind this that originates at the very basic level, in every home. We have all witnessed how Swabhiman, a modest civil society brought to the fore stories of hope – the scientist, the public leader or the cricketer who fought off polio to still leave a mark. There is a need for more such civil society initiatives who can lend a voice to India’s polio victims, articulating their rights and attempts to be an information resource on polio for affected people and the public at large.
Polio has lived with us perhaps as long as donkey years. So it has adapted to it and is going to hang with us for sometime. The traditional leadership, the political leadership and the medical community leadership have to stand on the same platform to rip this unwanted weed from its roots. It is one issue we cannot afford to turn a blind eye. We certainly have a long way to go and much more to address if we have to challenge one of the biggest public health challenges of our time – that of making India a polio-free country.

Oral vaccine not enough protection

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:34:00 +0000

IAP : Oral polio drops need support of Injectable vaccine

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Govt rethink on polio oral vaccine

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Polio virus strikes again, cripples another innocent child

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Swabhiman blog: Youngsters declare cyber war on polio

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Shooting Star

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:20:00 +0000

8-month-old is latest polio victim

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:51:00 +0000

Living in the time of Polio

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:41:00 +0000

Polio drops not enough, injection also neccessary

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:31:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:31:00 +0000

POLIO – A DEVASTATING DISEASE

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:32:00 +0000

Polio situation in the country is depressing. 275 polio cases have been reported in the country till the month of June which is also the highest in the world. Polio cases have not only been reported in remote areas but also in metro cities like Delhi.

Confirmed Wild Polio Cases, India, 2008

Total P1 cases-5
Total P3 cases-270
Total P1 + P3 Cases
Total polio cases-275
Total districts infected-60
Date and Location of the most recent case
P1 case-20th Feb 2008: Orissa
P3 case-1st June 2008: Bihar

Much has been said and done about the polio situation in the country but the results are not what the authorities aimed to achieve. Polio free India will remain a dream if serious introspection is not done. India is among the three countries including Pakistan and Nigeria where polio still exists and has also reported the highest number of polio cases in 2007 and 2008 till now.

India had launched the most expensive immunization program. First deadline to eradicate the crippling disease was the year 2000, extended to 2005, latest being 2008. India uses OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) as its immunization therapy. But inspite of administering seven doses of OPV children are contracting polio. These lead to questions like “Is our immunization program not effective enough? What are the reasons behind failure of the immunization program?” There is also no agreement among the pediatricians on the number of doses required to prevent polio.

The other developed countries have achieved zero polio status. These countries include USA. OPV was found to be made of live virus, carrying with itself the danger that the attenuated form can revert to its virulent form and result in paralysis which can cripple the affected individual for life, thus the more the OPV drops, the greater the risk of VAPP (Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Polio). Hence these countries adopted IPV (Injectible Polio Vaccine) which is another available therapy option and has helped them eradicate polio.

IPV
IPV induces high levels of pharyngeal immunity and can induce total protection in places where oral-oral transmission predominates
IPV does not carry the risk of VAPP as it has inactivated polio virus
IPV triggers an excellent long lasting immune response to all the three types of polio virus strains that can stay effective even without a proper cold storage facility for a long time
IPV efficacy rate is higher than OPV
Countries such as Britain, the United States, France and Germany who have achieved zero polio status rely solely on IPV for polio immunization

India Expert Advisory Group has made a recommendation, proposed by and fully justified by IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatrics), to introduce IPV in western UP to begin with. IAP feels that use of IPV as an additional tool along with OPV needs urgent consideration..

An amount of Rs.1,042 crore has been allocated in 2008-2009 for the drive to eradicate polio with a revised strategy and a focus on the high risk districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Mere formulation of policies and strategies is not enough until they are implemented in efficient and effective ways .The State along with the Central Government needs to think of other possible measures/options available, one of which may be making use of IPV (Inactivated Polio Vaccine) which is strongly recommended by health experts as well as redefine its strategies as the current one seems to have reached a roadblock. This is a matter of utmost concern as the children are the future of the nation and the well being of nation’s future is in our hands.

Polio: Roadblock for the future

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Polio Free India-the dream can come true

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:28:00 +0000

Polio - Delhi’s new intruders

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:08:00 +0000

Crippling India

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Deadly Virus Makes A Comeback

noreply@blogger.com (Swabhiman Foundation) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:31:00 +0000