Ravindra Thakare, District Collector said that  taking all necessary precautions as per the COVID-19 guidelines, every child in the age group of 0-5 years should get pulse polio dose on January 17, 2021, as part of pulse polio immunization drive in district. Even if a child has been given pulse polio dose previously, he/she must get the dose once again on the said date, Thakare said. He was addressing a meeting of officials on Monday. The district-level committee is preparing a plan for effective implementation of immunisation drive in rural areas of district, excluding the area of Nagpur city. The total population in district, excluding Nagpur city, is 23,62,259. Of these many people, total 7,580 children are below five years of age. Health Department of Zilla Parishad is preparing to administer pulse polio dose to these children.
As many as 3.20 lakh vials will be supplied to all primary healthcare centres in the district, before January 17. In all, 6,097 employees will be engaged in immunisation drive. Thakare asked the officials concerned to ensure that children in 0-5 years of age in houses near highways, dhabas, farmhouses, children of migrants etc also should be given the pulse polio dose through mobile squads. Already, training of tehsil level task force members, supervisors, booth-level workers is being conducted. Besides, ‘haldi-kumkum’ programmes will be organised to create awareness among women about the drive. Meetings of Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers will be held soon. Special attention will be paid to Ramtek and other tehsils where enrolment of children who got the dose was lesser last year. As far as polio patients are concerned, the last patient was recorded in Nagpur district in the year 2001 in Nagpur city. In rural areas of district, the last polio patient was recorded in 1998 in Mouda. In Maharashtra, the last polio patient was recorded in 2010 in Ambejogai tehsil. To ensure that the situation remains this good and no new patient is recorded, pulse polio immunisation drive is to be implemented effectively every year.
