It has been a long journey. At one point of time India was considered the most difficult country for handling polio. The reason was that the healthcare agencies were finding it difficult to reach the people in remote parts of the country with very forbidding communication and accessibility. As a result on an average two lakh children would be afflicted with polio and remained crippled for the entire life. This was a great national loss and a challenge to our medical and administrative authorities.
Our country was one of the worst affected countries where children contracted polio disease and remained crippled for life. But a vast and effective campaign of immunization launched by the Union Health Ministry throughout the length and breadth of the country has controlled the disease. The Union Health Minister Mr. Azad, speaking on the occasion said that during past three years there was no case of polio. The Ministry has the programme of getting 17 crore children vaccinated and for this job 23 lakh frontline workers and volunteers will undertake the project in almost inaccessible parts of the country. He said that even the people living close to the border will also be brought under the project.
Controlling a damaging disease like polio that usually strikes children and infants and ends up in life long debility is an achievement. We hail it as it has delivered the country from the clutches of despair for millions of people. The massive campaign undertaken by the medical teams and supported by civil society, NGOs, Governments and philanthropists had made us make this achievement. Ours is a traditional society steeped in myths and taboos. The way the Union Health Ministry has tried to remove the myths and misunderstanding among the common masses of India is something worthwhile to note. It is rightly said that most of the afflictions happen owing to our ignorance. Therefore ignorance had to be removed first and foremost. We have another drawback and that is of difficult accessibility in remote places all over the country. But by spreading out of the team of healthcare assistants and NGOs it has been possible to stand clear of this hindrance.
The success achieved in controlling polio should be utilized in controlling other diseases that wildly spread among our people in different parts of the country. Organizing health camps is all right in their own place but for many other ailments sustained programme needs to be launched as in the case of polio. For example tuberculosis though once controlled is resurfacing in many parts of the country. Malaria and dengue are spreading rapidly. The Union Ministry of Health should think of some sort of campaigning to control these ailments. It has been found that poor people are prone to contracting contagious diseases quite frequently because they are living in unhygienic places. While welcoming the achievement of the Health Ministry in making full effort of controlling polio and succeeding in the effort to a large extent, it remains to be said that in other areas of healthcare much needs to be done. True that deck cannot be cleared in one go and the effort needs time, funding and dedicated workers. But whatever little is possible to be done to improve healthcare conditions should be do
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