Many outside the health sector might have reason to think that polio has been near eradicated from our country. What with many many celebrities involved in polio vaccination endorsements and the extensive media attention given to the fight against this debilitating disease. But a front-page story in The Indian Express this Thursday brought to our attention that 283 polio cases were reported in the country this year, 255 of them in UP. This information, to my mind, provides us with a stimulus to analyse why public health efforts in India are still far from attaining the desired results. In the current scenario where there is overwhelming concern (genuine certainly) about the outbreaks of polio cases in certain parts of Western UP, I feel that much of it is at the cost of diluting our focus on the several other critical public health issues, which are no lesser than the burden of polio in the country.

In India, there are approximately 2.4 million child deaths each year often due to otherwise preventable and manageable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, diarrhea, malnutrition, water borne infections etc. For me, they represent equally important public health emergencies but they remain somewhat relegated to the background under the looming shadow of the polio.

I feel that the pulse polio campaign has been successful in having managed to contain the number of infected children to just 3 digits. We need to analyse the reasons for the substantial success of the program in several states and less than desired outcome in certain other areas in the country. This will throw open several lessons for not only the polio program but also for the other equally important public health concerns that warrant our attention.

... contd.