‘Ending polio: Now or never’ – Bill gates critisizes India!!

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New Delhi: India’s inability to stamp out polio has raised serious fears that the virus causing the crippling disease might never be eradicated.

In an ominous warning, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told TOI on Thursday that those implementing the programme, funding agencies and common people will soon feel fatigue, thanks to the virus constantly making a comeback.

Gates said, “We have spent lots of money in India’s polio programme. We have to get polio eradicated with tremendous urgency. If we don’t get it eradicated now, we may never be able to get it done.”

Polio cases have been piling up in India every year. Even though transmission of P1 (the most dangerous strain of polio virus) has almost been arrested in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the last one year, India is sometimes even earning the dubious distinction of having the world’s highest number of polio cases.

Gates said, “Since we are close to eradicating polio, with the number of cases actually low, the amount of money being spent on one child death is astronomical.”

India is just one of the four countries grappling to control the disease that affects children below the age of five. “In parts of UP and Bihar, even 10 doses of the oral polio vaccine haven’t been able to protect children against polio. A combination of Injectable Polio Virus (IPV) and OPV may solve the problem. India at some point may want to use IPV in the routine immunisation programme. I agree that adding an injection is not a trivial thing,” Gates said.

Criticising India’s low immunisation rates, Gates said countries like Africa and Bangladesh were better off than India on this count. “Take measles for example. It’s hard to find a thing that Africa does better than any other place. However, in controlling measles deaths, Africa has done better than India. In India, the whole issue of immunisation is pretty chaotic right now. You’ll face both a demand and a supply problem. You have to get mothers to want their children to get the vaccine and on the other hand get competent people providing it,” Gates said.

Asked whether homosexuality should be legalised in India, Gates said, “I come from the US where notion of social freedom is strong. Being gay is not illegal and sometimes seems the right choice. I don’t vote in India. I feel that as societies have got wealthy, attitude towards issues like homosexuality tends to improve. I hope over time, the same happens in India.”

Gates also urged India to open its mind to new vaccines, especially against pneumoccocas and rotavirus. “It is frustrating. We have been discussing with India about the introduction of a rotavirus vaccine over the past six years and still the path for its use is not clear. India hasn’t introduced a new vaccine since 1985. There is a cold chain problem, which can also be fixed,” he said.

“As far as pneumococcus vaccine is concerned, the original vaccine didn’t have the three serotypes that infected Indian children. However, the vaccine presently available belonging to GSK contains 10 serotypes,” he added.

Source: Times of India


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