The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Polio drops given to 4.05 lakh children

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 22, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Polio drops given to 4.05 lakh children

Staff Reporter

Corporation meets 84 pc of its target coverage

CHENNAI : The Chennai Corporation met 84.4 per cent of its target coverage in the second phase of the pulse polio immunisation programme for children below five years in the city on Sunday.

Of the 4.80-lakh children targeted, 4.05 lakh children were given polio drops. "We will also send teams on house visits to ensure that all children have been given the drops," Corporation officials said. The door-to-door campaign will be carried out till Friday.

The Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi inaugurated the programme at his Gopalapuram residence.

Volunteers from several non-government organisations and students from nursing schools supported the drive. Round-the-clock centres functioned in railway stations and bus stands.

In Ambattur Municipality, 40,114 of the targeted 39, 850 children were immunised at the 70 booths including six mobile booths set up by them. The Municipal Health Officer S. Rajasekaran said that the remaining children would be immunised through door-to-door visits in the next few days. "Apart from the routine immunisation, the mass drive is useful to eradicate the wild polio virus," Dr. Rajasekaran said.

The drive was very successful in the Pallavaram Municipality, officials said. Polio drops were administered to 22, 139 children in the 38 booths. The Municipal Commissioner, Soma Swaminathan said they covered more of the floating population than before. In all, three medical officers with 12 municipal health staff reached out the children and were assisted by student volunteers in the programme.

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