World Health Organisation (WHO) has removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild poliovirus transmission.

New Delhi, May 7/Nationalturk- In a major development which can have positive impact on India, World Health Organisation (WHO) has removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild poliovirus transmission.

India’s Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury told Upper House (Rajya Sabhya) today that WHO has removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild polio virus transmission.

“Polio free is certified for WHO regions by the Regional Certification Commission and not for individual country. The South-East Asia Regional Commission for Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE) has examined the data of 31 states/Union Territories of India and has accepted the report of Indian National Certification Committee for Polio Eradication and concluded that the wild polio virus is not circulating in these states” he said.

Each region can consider certification only when all countries in the area demonstrate the absence of wild poliovirus transmission for at least three consecutive years in the presence of certification standard surveillance.

The minister said a  Task Force for Laboratory containment of wild polioviruses has been constituted. “The first phase of laboratory containment was started by surveying laboratory to identify laboratory with wild poliovirus, infectious materials or potential wild poliovirus infectious materials and encourage them for destruction of all unneeded materials”.

He said support of WHOs National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) is also being obtained to survey all laboratories in their database and provide information of the Laboratories to the Task Force.

 

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk India News

 

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