Even though India appears to have done fairly well in combatting polio by administering oral drops, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a meeting scheduled this week is likely to deliberate on injectable option, in a bid to ensure complete elimination of the polio virus.
Recommended by the India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on polio earlier in 2009, the crucial decision to switch over to injectable polio vaccine will have to be taken by India if the World Health Organisation (WHO) too endorses for the same, following the meeting of its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunisation this week.
“The decision to switch to injectable vaccine is dependent on many conditions. Once the WHO recommends it to the members countries, we will get it reviewed by our experts as well before taking the final decision,” senior official in the ministry said.
In a meeting held last month, the IEAG on polio has recommended that the TOPV should be stopped. “But we are yet to take a stand on it. A lot will depend on the WHO recommendations,” added the official.
Earlier in 2009, the IEAG had recommended India to use “bivalent” polio vaccines to combat both P1 and P3 viruses. While the vaccine is administered orally, its introduction spared the hassle of organising two different rounds for P1 and P3. The results are here: Soon after its introduction, India saw a huge dip in polio cases in 2010. A study that appeared in the renowned journal Lancet in 2010 suggested that the double strain polio vaccine helped reduce the number of polio cases by more than 90 per cent in India.
In fact, last year has been remarkable, the country has not reported a single case for more than a year now. Recently, the WHO also put India off the hook of polio endemic countries.
The decision to opt for IPV will however be crucial, as India has been putting aside the same recommendation from the IEAG for quite sometime, mostly because of the apprehensions of the people and the high cost of the vaccine.The IEAG had in 2009 too recommended the use of IPV.