What is polio and how does it spread?
Polio is a disease that’s caused by a virus (sounds familiar, eh?). It has been around in the world for thousands of years.
Polio mostly affects children under 5 years old. It causes paralysis and spreads from person to person by sneezing, coughing, and coming in contact with the poop of an infected person.
Most people who get polio don’t get sick. Some experience fever, cough, and cold but they become well after a week or two. Few get the worst deal - they develop paralysis in their arms or legs or both for the rest of their lives. Out of these people, some even die.
How bad was the polio issue in India?
It was pretty bad. India had been trying to end polio for many years unsuccessfully. At one point, 30 years ago, 500 to 1000 children were getting paralysed daily. This was mainly because of low vaccination rates. It was also because the polio virus spreads easily in places where there’s poor sanitation.
Why were polio vaccination rates so low in India?
Many parents didn’t know the importance of the polio vaccine and were suspicious of the health workers trying to vaccinate their children. Since the population of India is so huge and so many people live in areas that are difficult to reach, the vaccine wasn’t able to reach them.
How did India put an end to polio?
In 1995, the Government of India realised that old plans to end the virus weren’t working. It launched a new plan, this time with the help of international organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO). As a part of this plan, 172 million children were vaccinated each year (that’s more than the population of many countries). Health workers worked with local religious leaders to convince parents that the polio vaccine was safe. Ultimately, all this hard work paid off. India was declared polio-free in 2014. Hurray!
