UPA's relentless efforts to improve India's public health standards achieved another major success after the country recorded a third straight year without a polio case. This success has been achieved because of a massive and sustained immunization program.
Making the announcement at an AICC press briefing, Congress leader Raj Babbar said, 'There was a time when 2 lakh children used to become victims of this disease every year. In 2009, 50 per cent of world's polio affected children used to be in India.' In a short span of time, during UPA-II's tenure, the disease has been completely eradicated from India. The numbers of polio cases have come down from 741 in 2009 to 42 in 2010. The last case was reported from West Bengal, in 2011.
Raj Babbar, however said, India needs to be cautious that the disease does not claw its way back into the country through polio-affected guests visiting India. In 2012, the World Health Organisation had removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries, which still has countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria on it..