Catholic NGO: Scourge of polio defeated in India, but continuous prevention needed
Mumbai (AsiaNews)
- The defeat of polio in India is a success, but "we must remain vigilant
. The threat of re-infection looms large", Fr. Tomi
Thomas tells AisNews. The priest is
chief executive of the Catholic Health Association of India ( CHAI ) , one of
the largest NGOs in the world in the prevention of disease and the promotion of
physical, mental , social and spiritual development of human beings.
According
to recently published data from the World
Health Organisation (WHO) in three years in the Indian subcontinent has not
recorded a new case of polio. As
early as 2012, the UN agency had taken New Delhi off the list of countries
where the virus is endemic . The
government has defined this success as a "milestone " for the country
, and one of the greatest public health successes , achieved thanks to a
massive and constant program of immunization.
The
1995-1996 Pulse Polio Initiative (
PPI ) has been crucial in this regard. The
immunization campaign was launched by the government to vaccinate all children
under five years. The
PPI says Tomi Thomis , "mobilized various sections of society, the public workforce,
volunteers and private associations". Which
included CHAI and over the years, the organization has created a vast network
of operators on the whole territory". Our base is made up of 3,410
institutions - he said - including 2,263 health centers, 417 hospices, 183 clinics
and 199 companies. There are five medical colleges and 120 training schools for
nurses. On territory
we have 11 regional units, in which about 1,000 nuns - doctors and more than 25
thousand nun nurses - and 10 thousand paramedics . "
Thanks
to this impressive organization, the priest adds , "Every year 21 million
people benefit from our services . And only thanks to the work of CHAI, about
800 thousand children in rural areas have been immunized". The
organization not only deals with polio, but also diphtheria , measles ,
whooping cough, dysentery , pneumonia, rotavirus , rubella and tetanus .
Despite
these successes , however, " still about 22 million children have not been
vaccinated , and over 1.5 million children under five die from diseases that
could be prevented with existing vaccines . This is a field in which the work
of organizations
like ours becomes crucial. Eradicating polio is only part of what India needs
to do to protect and lives of all newborn babies . "
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