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A rise in polio cases, reflecting the failure of the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme in Uttar Pradesh, prompted Union Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha to visit Lucknow on Tuesday for a meeting with Chief Minister Mayawati.
Sinha was scheduled to attend a meeting in Lucknow on "video piracy", but a letter from Mayawati to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressing concern over the immunisation programme made him change plans.
What was of concern was the fact that of the 344 cases of polio detected among the children covered by the countrywide programme, as many as 293 happened to be in Uttar Pradesh.
"Sixty per cent of the world's polio cases are to be found in Uttar Pradesh alone," the minister said after meeting Mayawati.
He also emphasised upon the need for a commitment to ensure a control over the disease. "Political leaders cutting across party lines and religious persons need to join the campaign against the deadly virus," he said.
Sinha said, "While the first five years of the programme witnessed a steady drop in the incidence of the disease, there was a sudden reversal in the trend this year, when a sharp rise has become a matter of serious concern for the government."
Initially, the programme, which started in 1996, showed encouraging results. "In 1998, there were 1934 cases detected in the country, to be followed by 1186 in 1999. The next year registered a sharp drop to just about 265 cases, which went further down to 211 in 2001," he said. "However, what alarmed us was the sudden jump to 344, with as many as 293 in Uttar Pradesh alone," Sinha added.
The minister blamed the reversal on "improper immunisation, misinformation among the target audience and, above all, poor monitoring".
When asked to comment on the common complaint that the concerned authorities had failed to keep the vaccine potent, the minister said, "Well, we have received no such complaint."
Meanwhile, the Centre has enhanced its allocation of funds towards the programme. As against last year's allocation of Rs 4 billion, a sum of Rs 4.5 billion has been earmarked for the current year.
"We will plug all loopholes and see to it that that the entire immunisation [programme] is closely monitored," the minister said.
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