Date:22/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/22/stories/2006052218470400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

70 p.c. of children covered under Pulse Polio in State

Staff Reporter

It was around 73 per cent in the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike limits

Bangalore: The second round of the Pulse Polio campaign was held across the State on Sunday.

Around 70 per cent of the 73.36 lakh children aged less than five was covered by the campaign on National Immunisation Day.

R. Ashok, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, administered polio drops to children at the Jayanagar General Hospital here. As many as 31,049 booths were set up and 8,663 supervisors and 93,147 vaccinators were involved in administering the polio drops.

In Bangalore, around eight lakh children under the age of five were to be immunised, and around 3,200 booths were set up.

About 73 per cent coverage was reported in the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) limits.

The Global Polio Eradication initiative is a public-private partnership spearheaded by World Health Organisation, United Nations International Children's Fund, Union Government and Rotary International.

Polio-free

In the BMP limits, 6.88 lakh children were to be immunised. Around 1,850 booths were set up and 800 volunteers administered the vaccine to children.

Mayor Mumtaz Begum, who administered polio drops to a child at the city railway station, said Bangalore had been declared polio-free.

Booths were set up at hospitals, schools, bus stands and railway stations.

Volunteers will go on a house-to-house campaign during the next two days to administer polio drops to children who were not brought to the booths on Sunday.