Uttar Pradesh, the largest state of India, registers its win against polio as the number of cases //reported this year is only 12 as against the 1242 reported in the year 2002.
UNICEF, and an army of health workers from the government, and voluntary organizations of the country are leading the war against polio in India. Of the 1918 cases of polio detected worldwide in 2002, around 1600 were from India alone, and 1242 cases were registered in Uttar Pradesh. This year the number of polio cases globally had been registered at 759, with only 29 cases from India and 12 from Uttar Pradesh.
It has been a long story of fighting prejudice against immunization of the disease, ignorance in the minority community that the drops might cause impotence later on in life and distrust against the government for focusing so much on a single disease - which has been eradicated from much of the globe.
And Hapur in Ghaziabad district, adjoining New Delhi, perhaps epitomizes the struggle best. It remains one of the 12 polio-endemic areas in western Uttar Pradesh where the virus has been hitting back after every immunization round.
A lot of people here believed that polio drops would eventually lead people to impotency, so parents not only kept polio vaccinators at a safe distance but even intimidated them at times. It took some time before realization dawned that all the talk about impotency was wrong and the polio vaccine was actually good for children.
Evidently, none of the celebrity based advertisements worked as much as the involvement of local, influential people, particularly religious and spiritual leaders.
Significantly, the immunization teams include a large number of local Muslim women to increase trust perceptions.
But polio eradication is not only about immunization but also educating the people about cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene. Faecal material is the biggest carrier of the
'"/>Page: 1 2 Related medicine news :1.
Drinkers Intensed to get Drunk2.
Anticipation Could Have An Intense Effect On Memory3.
Intense Cessation Treatment Proves Successful in High-Risk Smokers4.
Yearning -the Most Intense Emotion in Bereavement5.
Fight Heart disease and Pain with Meditation6.
Fight anemia by fortifying crops with iron!!!!!!!!7.
Fight arthritic pain with acupuncture8.
Smallpox Vaccine May Help Fight Cervical Cancer9.
Fight against E.coli10.
Red Wine Helps Fight Heart disease 11.
Fish Oil Fights Arrhythmias, Sudden Death