Pulse Polio Programme For 2021

Pulse Polio Programme For 2021

Part of: GS Prelims and GS- II – Health

In news 

• President of India launched the Pulse Polio Programme for 2021 by administering polio drops to children less than five years old at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Key takeaways

• The drops were on the eve of the Polio National Immunization Day, observed on the 31st January 2021, popularly known as Polio Ravivar.
• Around 17 crore children of less than 5 years of age will be given polio drops as part of the drive of the Government of India to sustain the polio-free status of the country.
• The strategy of the Pulse Polio Immunization Programme was conceived in December 1993 and it was rolled out from 2nd October 1994 when the first child was immunized against Polio as part of this program.
• The last case of Polio in India was reported in Howrah on 13th January 2011.
• India has been free of Polio for a decade now.

Do you know?

• Polio-free certification’ of the entire South-East Asia Region of WHO including India on the 27th of March 2014 was a huge accomplishment in the history of India and Global Public Health.

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• Polio Disease: Click here
• Examining Polio’s success for other diseases: Click here