KATHMANDU, Dec 19: With no polio- case detected for three years in a row, Nepal is likely to be declared ‘polio free’ country.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) will declare Nepal polio free in February next year, health ministry officials said here.
“Polio-affected patients are not seen in Nepal for over past three years. Now we are in a position to get certification of polio-free country”, Child Health Division Chief Dr Senendra Raj Uprety said while speaking at a function organised by the Ministry of Health and Population on the eve of 15th National Polio Vaccination Day-2070.
The Health Ministry is launching a two-day polio vaccination campaign from Dec 21 with a target of covering 42,26,996 children across the country.
More than 40,440 vaccination centres have been set up and 80,900 volunteers have been drafted to implement the programme in two phases.
According to the Ministry of Health officials, the anti-polio campaign will cover 68 districts, including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, in the first phase that is expected to cost 290 million Nepali Rupees, a report in The Himalayan Times said today.
Nepal has been conducting two nation-wide polio campaigns every year reaching out to 80 per cent of the total targeted under-fives.
The Government does not want any under-fives to miss out the campaign, the report added.
The last polio outbreak in Nepal was reported in Mahottari in February 2010, followed by a second outbreak in Rautahat; the most recent case was reported on August 30, 2010. (AGENCIES)
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