Hon’ble Mr J P Nadda, former Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chief Guest of this event; His Excellency Dr Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare; His Excellency Mr Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Hon’ble Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare; Ms Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF; Mr Rajendra K Saboo, past President, Rotary International; hon’ble guests and partners, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a privilege to celebrate 25 years of the fight against polio with you today.
It is fitting that we celebrate India’s achievement as the world rejoices at the eradication of wild poliovirus type 3 – the third time a human pathogen has been globally eradicated, the earlier two being smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2.
There is now just one type of wild poliovirus left – type 1.
I am optimistic the world will eradicate type 1 in coming years, and in doing so consign poliovirus to history.
The story we celebrate today – the story of how India triumphed over polio – is testament to what can be achieved when a country mobilizes its energy, talent and resources to pursue a public health outcome.
I remember well when the fight for a polio-free India began in earnest.
It was 1994. Dr Harsh Vardhan was the Health Minister of Delhi.
A mass immunization campaign targeting one million children up to three years of age was rolled out across the nation’s capital.
The campaign was a success, lighting a spark that steadily took hold.
The next year Union health authorities and high-level leaders made a bold move: to replicate Delhi’s success countrywide – to immunize every child, in every village, in every corner of the country.
In other words, to eliminate polio from the world’s second most populous country.
Years of hard work followed, with the WHO-supported National Polio Surveillance Project guiding India’s onward march.
Yes, most of those years were marked by progress. But many were also marked by setbacks – or rather, opportunities to learn.
Where necessary, course corrections were made. Additional resources were allocated. And new strategies were developed and implemented. Leaders at all levels urged focus on the task at hand.
This single-mindedness paid off. In 2011 India recorded just one case – in January. It was the last case of polio in India. For three years, not a single case was reported.
In 2014 WHO declared the South-East Asia Region, including India, polio-free.
It was a momentous achievement, and one I was pleased to celebrate as the recently appointed Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.
It is indeed a privilege to commemorate the victory today.
But what most inspires me is that today’s event is not only about achieving polio-free certification. Rather, it is about an entire process, from the beginning of the fight against polio through to the present and future.
While the South-East Asia Region has been polio-free for more than eight years now, the fight against polio continues outside of the Region. Until polio is globally eradicated, all countries are at risk of importing the virus. They also face the threat of outbreaks due to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.
Our fight therefore continues.
I commend the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and its many partners for ensuring that India and with it the Region remains polio-free.
I also appreciate their drive to harness polio infrastructure to achieve other public health outcomes, which are reflected in the Region’s ‘Sustain. Accelerate. Innovate’ vision, its Flagship Priorities and WHO’s Country Cooperation Strategy.
From controlling and eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases to strengthening health systems and expanding health coverage, the polio infrastructure has much to offer.
This includes the many lessons learned over the past 25 years. WHO will continue to support India as it strives to apply those lessons to other endeavors, including the quest to eliminate measles and rubella by 2023.
I want to focus on three takeaways in particular.
First, the importance of building capacity and strengthening health systems. Through the effort to eradicate polio, health personnel and community workers were trained to improve vaccination and health services for other childhood diseases. Comprehensive global laboratory and communication networks were built and are now being used for a range of purposes.
This must continue. While elimination programmes for specific diseases hold great value, we must take every opportunity to amplify their benefits. No learning opportunity can be squandered, and no network or partnership left to decay.
Second is the value of risk mitigation. A sensitive surveillance system is critical to detecting case incidence and guiding programmatic responses. In the fight against polio, robust outbreak detection and response plans proved crucial to achieving our targets, as well as managing outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio.
The same emphasis on risk mitigation must be applied to other targeted diseases, including measles and rubella. Outbreaks cannot be allowed to derail progress but should rather be used to better understand vulnerabilities and ensure they are addressed. Preparedness is the key to progress.
Finally, the principle of equity must guide all that we do. As India and the Region strives to achieve universal health coverage, the need to reach the unreached and underserved cannot be emphasized enough.
The polio programme succeeded because it reached every child, even in the remotest locations. In doing so it proved that while equity is a normative principle that informs the right to health, it is also an operational principle that is crucial to achieving public health outcomes.
I am certain these lessons will guide India’s efforts to harness the polio infrastructure and continue to go from strength to strength.
Excellency, hon’ble guests, partners, ladies and gentlemen,
The 25-year fight against polio has taught us a lot.
But there is one lesson that stands above all others, and that is our power to achieve hitherto unthinkable outcomes when we identify and unite behind a common goal.
As I stated at the outset, India’s triumph over polio is testament to what can be achieved when a country mobilizes its energy, talent and resources to pursue a public health outcome.
There is no limit to what India and the wider South-East Asia Region can accomplish.
Our capacity to help the world achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda is immense and must be fully leveraged.
India’s victory will be the Region’s victory. The Region’s victory will be the world’s.
I once again congratulate India on its polio-free status and commend the Ministry and partners for their ongoing fight against polio.
I also appreciate India’s efforts to achieve universal health coverage and eliminate measles and rubella by 2023. The battle against TB is being waged with fierce resolve. I commend the high-level commitment this reflects.
WHO is proud to support India and will continue to help advance the health and well-being of all people across this broad and very diverse country – fully one-sixth of humanity.
I wish you a happy and fulfilling celebration.
Thank you.