Date:08/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/08/stories/2007010823590300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Polio: 5.35 lakh children to be given vaccine

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: Collector Neeraj Mittal launched the pulse polio immunisation drive in the district on Sunday to administer polio drops to 5.35 lakh children aged up to five years. The district administration said in a release that 5.33 lakh children were given polio drops last year.

Mr. Mittal administered the drops to a child at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital in the first phase of the annual drive. The second phase will be carried out on February 11.

Mayor R. Venkatachalam administered polio drops to a child at the Coimbatore Corporation's Seethalakshmi Maternity Centre.

The drive was carried out at 2,289 centres across the district. Of these, 242 centres were established in Coimbatore city and 99 in Tirupur Town. As many as 1,948 centres provided the drops in the rural areas of the district.

The drops were given at the Corporation's main office, railway junction, bus stands and also the mobile centres at various points in the city.

The release said that about 9,000 staff from the departments of revenue, nutrition, education and social welfare and also from voluntary organisations such as the Rotary were involved in carry out the drive.

It said that 115 vehicles of the various Government departments were used to reach polio drops to the immunisation centres without any delay.

A door-to-door survey of the children would be done on Monday and Tuesday to identify and immunise children who were left out in the drive on Sunday.