Tuesday, November 24, 2009

India focuses on eliminating polio in Uttar Pradesh

From Press TV in India:


India has launched a campaign to eradicate polio from its northern state of Uttar Pradesh, thought to have the world's highest concentration of the infection.

Some 2,700 booths have been situated in and around the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, to give out vaccine drops, the BBC reported.

There are also plans to immunize two million children in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the only two states left in India where polio infection is still endemic.

Uttar Pradesh has a population of over 190 million and the world's highest concentration of the crippling disease.

The infection is now endemic in just four countries - Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Nigeria.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently making efforts to totally eradicate polio.