Progress in polio fight
Campaigns to eradicate the crippling polio virus have shown remarkable progress in 2010, according to health officials. US newspaper The New York Times reported on Monday (12 April 2010) that local and international health officials in Nigeria say only two children have been paralysed by wild polio virus in the country so far this year, compared to 123 during the same period in 2009.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also praised recent progress in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where for the first time there were no cases of the most virulent polio viral type recorded for four months in a row. Polio vaccination campaigns have been a challenge in both countries. Muslim leaders initially discouraged vaccinations as they were suspicious of their purposes. The WHO estimates that the number of new polio cases around the world fell to 56 in 2010, a 75 percent drop from the same period last year.