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Bangladesh is poised for another success story in polio-vaccine |
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May 27, 2000 Dhaka, May (UNB)- Bangladesh is poised for having another success story. It all depends on the last and final efforts of the people bringing all children up to five years to polio-vaccine centers during National Immunization Days. The second round of seventh NIDs will begin on May 29 while its first round finished on April 23. During the second round each child from 1-5 years will be fed with a single Vitamin A capsule along with administering oral polio vaccine (OPV) to 0-5-year children. Usually National Immunization Day occurs twice a year. Third round of NIDs will be conducted in October-November-December this year to ensure that all the children are vaccinated. Though Bangladesh was the last country in this region in eradication of small pox in 1976, but it may reach better position in case of eradicating polio, according to some health officials. Poliomyelitis, commonly known as Polio, is a viral disease caused by poliovirus, which affects the human nervous system. Some 12 percent of victims die and the remainder becomes permanently crippled. Most of the polio victims are under five years of age. Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives have reached “zero” polio status. Polio is now limited to 30 countries of Southeast Asia and South Saharan Africa. A vast majority of all polio cases in the world are now occurring in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and this block is considered global reservoir of wild poliovirus. Bangladesh was the first country in this region to launch the National Immunization Day program in 1995. Bangladesh wrote another success story in fighting against diarrhoea by establishing the home-based preparation of oral rehydration saline, commonly known as ORS. Health officials concerned in eradication of polio here are hopeful that Bangladesh will be polio-free before neighbouring India. “It’s a good news for us that there have not yet been found any wild poliovirus in the current year while 29 wild polioviruses were found in 1999,” said Dr AM Zakir Hussain, Director of Primary Health Care and Diseases Control. Talking to UNB Dr Hussain, who is supervising the Extended Program for Immunization (EPI), said the polio cases had dramatically dropped after the launch of NID since 1995 in a vision to eradicate polio from Bangladesh by year 2000. Before 1995, approximately 2300 children developed polio but the number of clinically confirmed polio cases was 324 last year. Of the 324 polio cases, 29 were laboratory-confirmed with isolation of wild poliovirus from stool specimens. The director stressed taking the responsibilities by each and everybody directly or indirectly to bring the target-age children to polio-vaccine centres particularly during NIDs for administering two drops of polio vaccine. “With only seven months remaining to attain the target of eradicating polio from Bangladesh, now is the time for every child to be vaccinated,” he said. It should be the duty of all to campaign “Shishu Shishu Proti Shishu, Khoje Fero Proti Shishu” to bring all the target-group children under polio vaccination, Dr Zakir said.
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