Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan is in New Delhi for a day long visit on 11 February 2014 at the invitation of the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Government of India to celebrate India's victory over polio.
Dr Chan will be one of the keynote speakers at a special programme organized by the government on the occasion. Among other dignitaries present at this event will be the Hon’ble President of India, the Prime Minister and the Union Health & Family Welfare Minister.
"Dr Chan has tirelessly spearheaded the global fight against polio, and we are delighted that she is here on this special occasion for India. The entire South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization, led by Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the new WHO Regional Director, is today at the brink of an historic occasion—polio-free certification at the end of March 2014. " said Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India.
Dr Chan will also be meeting senior officials of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to discuss key health issues.
The last case of polio in India was reported on 13 January 2011 and India has been removed by WHO from the list of polio endemic countries in 2012. Since then the country has remained free of any case of wild polio virus. It is an unprecedented achievement for a country, which until 2009 accounted for more than half the world’s polio incidence.