Polio Case In Dailekh Has Officials Fretting

[Angel]

Though the government officials had blamed open Nepal-India border for the detection of four polio cases in the Terai last year, recent detection of a polio case in Dailekh, a hilly district in the mid-western Nepal, has proved that indigenous Polio Virus exists in the country.

While the detection of a polio case in Dailekh has appalled government officials, they are wondering how to manage funds to go ahead with campaigns to eradicate the disease by 2008.

"Even a single case of polio is defined as endemic and because an indigenous Polio Virus has been detected, the government has planned to organise massive polio eradication campaign from this year," Dr Sun Lal Thapa, programme manager at the Integrated Management on Childhood Illness (IMCI) unit of Child Health Division, told The Himalayan Times.

The government was all set to get the certification of polio eradication in 2005. However, the detection of four polio cases last year in the Terai region pushed the government's plan by another three years.

This year the government has planned to vaccinate 4.4 million children under five years of age across the country. The government is organising the programme in three phases. The first phase would be conducted on September 2 and 3, the second on October 14 and 15 and the third on November 18 and 19 this year.

"The UN Children's Fund and the World Health Organisation are funding $3.8 million for the polio campaign this year, while the Rotary Club is taking care of the publicity and awareness part of the campaign. However, the same cannot be assured for the following years," said Dr Shyam Raj Upreti, the chief of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Child Health Division.

Fund crunch is likely to severely affect the administrative aspect of the anti-polio campaign rather than vaccination itself, Dr Upreti said, adding that activities like monitoring, supervision and orientation of the health workers are likely to be affected.
"It is likely that some three per cent target group will be excluded in this year's campaign and to check that there is a need to strengthen orientation and training for the volunteers," said Dr Upreti.

Earlier, the government used to launch mop-up campaigns in the high-risk areas after detection of polioviruses in the area.

According to the World Health Organisation, the polio drops have to be administered to 2 million children in the high-risk areas after the detection of the virus.