Click to play videoPatna: Despite a series of much-publicised pulse polio drives, cases of polio are on the rise in Bihar. Inaccessible interiors and refusal by certain communities to get their kids administered stand as a major obstacle.
Many children in Bihar have been left crippled for life because of the polio virus. Despite the polio eradication program being on top of the government's agenda and the efforts of several national and international agencies, fresh polio cases are on the rise in Bihar.
"We have been successful in reducing P1 types of polio cases. However, what we are seeing is the rise in P3-type cases. Keeping that in mind, we have revised our strategy for 2008, and we are paying due heed,” says a UNICEF official Dr Sherin Varkey.
According to official reports, despite half a dozen immunisation and special immunisation drives this year, 139 fresh polio cases of P3 nature have been detected in Bihar this year alone, as against 61 last year.
"The cases we are seeing are due to importations from surrounding states,” says Dr Varkey.
He adds, “In Bihar, there are various challenges, which are not there in other states. We have areas which are inaccessible due of being riverine. These places are extremely difficult to reach."
Crores of rupees spent and hundreds of mop-up rounds have so far failed to bring the dreaded polio virus under control in Bihar. Apart from the area’s topography, refusal by certain communities to get their kids polio drops stands as a major trouble.
"There is some confusion. Some people are not very aware. The problem is evident not only in the minorities but also in Hindus," says a WHO official Dr Shailesh Yadav.
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