BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI : The Indian government will soon achieve its goal of Universal Immunization of children, with external funding support for vaccines ending for India.

Union Minister for Health, Dr Harsh Vardhan, has said that, at present, up to 90 per cent of children in India are being given free immunization, but the country's goal is to bring all children under the purview of the Universal Immunization Programme.

The minister was briefing the media in New Delhi in the run-up to the government's celebration of the silver jubilee of Pulse Polio Immunization Programme, which will be held on October 31, 2019, in New Delhi.

He said that, in the early 90s, India saw over two lakh cases of polio annually, but, after the polio eradication programme was launched in 1994, India attained polio-free status over the course of the next two decades due to concentrated efforts and collaboration of the government, international partners, civil society, health workers and millions of volunteers.

Mission Director, NHM, Manoj Jhalani, said, “India was declared polio-free in March 2014 after the relentless efforts by our States and Districts, health workforce, partners, community influencers and celebrities.”

The long battle against Polio started in 1994 from the state of Delhi and a year later it was scaled up across the country by Government of India.