NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has called an emergency meeting of Health Ministers and officials of polio-affected States for September 21. This follows rise in the incidence, with Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 269 of the 297 cases reported till September 15 this year. A total of 66 cases were reported in 2005.

Speaking at a function here on Tuesday to announce yaws elimination from India, Dr. Ramadoss said he would meet the Health Ministers and Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

To visit Uttar Pradesh

On October 16, he will visit Uttar Pradesh and meet religious leaders, leaders of non-governmental organisations and officials. "If the world has to succeed in eliminating polio, India has to succeed, and if India has to succeed, Uttar Pradesh has to succeed." The Government would initiate the Injectable Polio Virus (IPV) project, funded by the United Nations Children's Fund, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. "After the complete elimination of polio from the country, only IPV would be used instead of oral polio drops."

The September 21 meeting comes in the backdrop of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing concern over the increase in polio cases. Poliovirus strains specific to India have also been detected in neighbouring countries, suggesting the disease could have travelled outside due to migration.

It was yet to be ascertained whether the increase in the number of cases was due to a minority community not participating in the pulse polio campaign for religious reasons or because of a break in the cold chain.

The World Health Organisation would help India in dealing with the situation.

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