India launches massive polio vaccine programme

India launched its largest poliomyelitis immunisation campaign last week, attempting to vaccinate 165 million children in a bid to combat a growing polio epidemic that swept northern India last year.

Health workers and volunteers set up immunisation booths and visited households in cities and rural areas throughout the week seeking to immunise all children aged under 5 years.

India reported 1556 confirmed cases of polio during 2002, accounting for 85% of polio around the world, nearly three times the 537 cases reported globally by the World Health Organization during 2001.

Most cases appeared in …