“POLIO”– this word used to be a threat to the world and bane to the children in the late 80s. If we look at the stats, there were roughly 350,000 cases reported in over 120 endemic countries in 1988. But the picture has completely changed in the present scenario. Just 37 polio cases in 2016 simply mean a remarkable decrease of 99%. It’s an astonishing global achievement. The governments of all the nations laid their hard endeavors to eradicate this curse entirely.
To commemorate the worldwide success of anti-polio campaigns, 24th October is dedicated to celebrating World Polio Day every year. This year Department of Community Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Medical Sciences & Research (SMS&R) and Sharda Hospital conducted various activities to give honor to the campaigns run for the eradication of polio. These activities included:
1. Activity – I: Health Centres: Panchayatan (RHTC), Bhangel (UHTC)
- Time: 10.00 am to 12.00 pm
- Health Talk on ‘World Polio Day’ by interns under supervision of centre Co-ordinators
2. Activity II: College Auditorium, 5th floor, SMS&R
- Time: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
- Poster Competition by Undergraduate Medical, Nursing, and Students of Allied Health Sciences
3. Activity III: College Auditorium, 5th floor, SMS&R
- Continuing Medical Education
The major highlights of CME were:
- Welcome Address by HOD Community Medicine
- Success story of Poliomyelitis, Dr. S. Aneja, Prof. Dept. of Pediatrics, SMS&R
- Polio Eradication-story so far and End Game Strategy – Dr. Monika Puri, Guest Speaker, Senior Manager – Government Affairs & Health Policy Roche Products (India) Pvt. Limited, India.
- Vote of thanks by Dr. Neha Tyagi
In March 2014, India was awarded polio-free nation of the entire South-East Asia Region by WHO. The success mantra of Pulse Polio Campaign was the proper implementation of the strategies. It’s the wish of every citizen now to keep our nation polio-free. After all, today’s childhood is tomorrow’s youth.
