Chennai, June 27:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will launch the State-wide Pulse Polio Immunisation Campaign on Sunday, with the Health Department aiming to vaccinate 52.91 lakh children below the age of five through an extensive one-day drive across the State. The campaign is part of the National Pulse Polio Programme aimed at protecting children against poliomyelitis and sustaining India’s polio-free status.
The Chief Minister will inaugurate the programme at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Higher Secondary School campus in Palavakkam, Chennai, where children under five will receive oral polio vaccine drops. Health officials said every eligible child should receive the vaccine irrespective of whether they have previously been immunised under the routine vaccination programme.
To ensure maximum coverage, the Health Department has established 43,051 vaccination booths across Tamil Nadu. The booths have been set up at government primary health centres, government hospitals, anganwadi centres, schools, bus terminals, railway stations, toll plazas, check posts, airports and other public places where large numbers of people gather.
Special arrangements have also been made to reach children living in remote and inaccessible areas, including hilly and tribal regions. Mobile medical teams have been deployed to visit isolated villages and administer the vaccine to children unable to reach fixed immunisation centres.
Health authorities have appealed to parents and guardians to bring all children below the age of five to the nearest vaccination booth, emphasising that repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine are essential to maintain immunity and prevent the re-emergence of the disease.
Ahead of the launch, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran inspected preparations at the Palavakkam venue and reviewed arrangements made by civic and health officials for the smooth conduct of the inaugural event and the State-wide campaign.
India was declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation in 2014, and annual Pulse Polio campaigns continue to be conducted to protect children and guard against the import or resurgence of the virus.
