It has been exactly three years since India has seen a polio case. World Health Organization has already removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries and in a month might certify India a polio-free country after testing some final samples.
It is a moment of pride for every citizen of country. In 1996 when Global Polio Eradication Initiative was started, an estimated 200,000 children were in the grasp of this disease. In 2009 these numbers came down to mere 741 and in 2011, it was just one, which was also the last case of polio.
The last patient of India who suffered from this disease was a girl, Rukshar Khatoon from Kolkata, West Bengal.
German Ambassador Michael Steiner congratulated India on this success, he said, "I congratulate India on successfully eradicating polio. This is a landmark achievement. We are happy to have contributed to India's Polio Eradication Program."
"Germany remains committed to the global initiative to eliminate polio from the few remaining pockets around the world," he added.
Germany has contributed 243 million euros to the Indian Polio Eradication Program, a part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Besides Smallpox, Polio is the second disease that has been successfully eliminated in India. Smallpox was eliminated in 1980 from the country. A regular immunization program helped India achieved this goal.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria remain few of the countries affected by Polio. Polio is one of the deadly diseases that have affected human civilization from ancient times to early 1980s. Polio affects the nervous system of our body and can cause paralysis or death. It can be caused by drinking contaminated water. The disease is vaccine-preventable.
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