Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication--India, December 1995 and January 1996

Monitoring efforts to eradicate poliomyelitis by the year 2000 continues to indicate this goal can be achieved: in 1995, the incidence of reported polio cases worldwide was the lowest ever (6179 cases)--representing an 82% decline from the 35,251 cases in 1988. In addition, from 1988 to 1995, the number of countries conducting national immunization days (NIDs) increased from 17 to 62. In India (1994 population: 919 million), the first NIDs ("pulse polio immunization days" [PPIDs] were conducted on December 9, 1995, and January 20, 1996, with a target of vaccinating approximately 75 million children aged < 3 years with one dose of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in each of two rounds. This report summarizes progress toward polio eradication in India and indicates that the target to vaccinate 75 million children aged < 3 years with OPV was exceeded by 4.3 million (6%) during the first round of PPIDs and by 10.4 million (14%) during the second round.