President to launch polio campaign on Jan 7

The government will launch a nationwide immunisation campaign targeting 17 crore children on Jan 7.

To attack polio virus lying dormant during winters, the government will launch a nationwide immunisation campaign targeting 17 crore children.

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In the campaign, to be launched by President APJ Abdul Kalam on January 7, children between the age group of 0 and 5 years will be vaccinated.

According to an official of the National Polio Programme, the immunisation programme is being conducted to attack the virus that lies dormant during winters.

"If we need to eliminate polio from the country, we have to attack it during winters when its lying low. With this in mind, we will do another immunisation round in February. Last year, we conducted the polio round in April-May," the officer said.

He said polio virus gets active during summers when it is hot and humid and it is late to target the virus at that time.

With 13 fresh polio cases being reported last week in the country, including one in Delhi, the total number of children afflicted with the disease has gone up to 610 this year. Last year, 66 polio cases were reported in the country.

The one polio case reported from Delhi is from Rohini, where an eight-month-old child Raja was detected with the paralytic disease. With this, the total number of polio cases in Delhi has gone up to six, he said.

The officer said the immunisation campaign, which will happen in all states and UTs, will help in controlling the virus from circulating during its peak season of September-November.