WHO confirmed 9 new cases of polio in the two countries, raising alarm over cross-border transmission due to refugee movements & limited access to vulnerable populations.
Wild polio was eradicated from Gaza over 25 years ago. The re-emergence of vaccine-derived poliovirus could be due to a combination of poor hygiene and sanitation, as seen in Uttar Pradesh, and low vaccine coverage.
India faces a 'threat' of importation of wild and vaccine-derived polio viruses, but Kolkata sample not a public health worry, according to World Health Organization.
India was declared polio-free by WHO in 2014. Polio vaccine is a live attenuated virus, which suggests the virus can be detected in samples collected from areas with high vaccination rates.
An IAF aircraft Sunday evacuated 169 people, including 107 Indians, from Kabul amid a deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital following a takeover by the Taliban.
Polio triggered no pandemics, no economic crashes. Yet the large-scale campaign against what was once called infantile paralysis is arguably the closest precedent to today’s effort.
The US contributed about 15% of the WHO’s funding to wipe out polio in 2018-19 and roughly 32% of the money used to tackle tuberculosis, according to WHO.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
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