Mangaluru: Deputy Commissioner AB Ibrahim held a meeting regarding the upcoming ‘Pulse Polio’ drive at his office in State Bank here, on January 2.
The District Health Officer Dr Ramakrishna said, “The drive will be held on January 17 and February 21 and will be administered to children between the age group of 0 to 5 years.”
Representative from WHO, Dr Satish Chandra said, “There has been no fresh case of polio from 2011 in India. However neighbouring nations of Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world to have reported polio cases.” The last case of polio infection was reported in the state of West Bengal in 2011. In Dakshina Kannada district the last case of polio was reported in 1999. “The only way that polio can now penetrate India is through migration,” he said.
Dr Ramakrishna said, “The polio vaccination will be given in phases, 921 booths will be set up in the district along with 28 travelling and 8 mobile units. To ensure maximum penetration of the drive, advertisements will be put up on hoardings, local cable TV channels and other media publications.”
Ibrahim said, “Make sure that no migrant population misses the polio drive. A separate target should be prepared for the actual population and the visitor population. Target the risky areas of high population density and migratory population in Dakshina Kannada district.”
ZP CEO Sreevidya and others were also present.