Meeting of the 28th India Expert Advisory Group for Polio Eradication
14 November, New Delhi: The 28th Meeting of the India Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) was convened on 13-14 November in New Delhi to review the progress on polio eradication and provide strategic guidance to the Government of India – which includes an assessment of poliovirus importation risks from continued wild poliovirus (WPV) and vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) transmission in the neighboring countries and other affected countries of the world.
Mr Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, MoHFW, Ms Vandana Gurnani, AS & MD, MoHFW, Dr Sanjay Tyagi, Director General of Health Services, Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative for India, and other distinguished members of the India Expert Advisory Group for polio eradication were present at the meeting.
Dr Henk Bekedam in his opening remarks shared that this platform will be instrumental in deciding the future course of actions to keep India polio-free. “India has managed to contain wild poliovirus transmission and reported the last case of polio in 2011 in just two years, when it had more than 700 polio cases in 2009, through concentrated surveillance and rigorous immunization,” he stated.
Dr Michel Zaffran Director Polio Eradication EPI/WHO (HQ), Dr Roland Sutter, Coordinator - Polio Research Containment and Certification, WHO (HQ), Dr Steve Cochi CDC (Atlanta) and Dr Sunil Bahl Team Leader-IVD, WHO- SEARO provided their inputs during the discussions. Representatives from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CORE, Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Medical Association, Rotary International, UNICEF, USAID, also attended the meeting.
The India Expert Advisory Group discussed how India continues to maintain high population immunity, risk mitigation from polio viruses including containment and transitioning of polio networks. The recommendations from this meeting will guide policy to make appropriate programmatic interventions through knowledge sharing and making appropriate adjustments to help India in sustaining its polio-free status.
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