
India Manages to Free Itself of Polio - smaug7
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303848104579312453860810752?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories
======
pg
This is bigger news than most news stories you'll read this year, or this
decade for that matter.

~~~
monsterix
Here's the man credited to have started the polio eradication program in 1994.

[https://twitter.com/drharshvardhan](https://twitter.com/drharshvardhan)

Dr. Harsh Vardhan has keenly taken it to its fruitful conclusion as well.

The initiative to check polio started way back in 1978, with permanently
disabled population still available across 5 alive generations. This number is
likely to shrink rapidly in the next two decades, provided the polio
vaccination program is kept abreast with advancing deadliness of _poliovirus_
[1] and state's ability to maintain free vaccination.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliovirus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliovirus)

[Edited: Span of generations across which polio afflicted patients could be
found is 5 and not 3 as per my original comment.]

~~~
r0h1n
Dr. Harsh Vardhan was the BJP's (India's main opposition party currently)
chief minister candidate for the recently held elections to Delhi - India's
capital city which is also a state. You've tried to ascribe credit for India's
multi-decade polio eradication efforts to him, including a link to his Twitter
handle, with zero references to back this claim up.

It's a sad way to add a partisan sheen on an achievement that actually belong
to the tens of thousands of people who've worked for this over decades.

Here's a better summary of India's efforts by the WHO's representative to
India:
[http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JD8uPXvircS0rU60AIUvUN/Polio...](http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JD8uPXvircS0rU60AIUvUN/Polio-
eradicationa-landmark-achievement-for-India.html)

------
niyazpk
Really happy about this news. I cannot imagine how much effort it takes to
fight against the misconceptions and prejudices of various local groups to
achieve this massive milestone.

I am still worried though.

I have seen large groups of people who still refuse to vaccinate the newborns
in their community. The ignorance and misinformation that is widespread even
in the supposedly well educated stratas of society is just mind boggling.

I know many well educated people (some are teachers!) who have not given ANY
vaccination to their newborns.

A few months ago, my father (a doctor) had a visitor from his native village.
The visitor (who was a distant relative too) had come to consult dad about his
ailments. One of his hands was disabled. While we were having coffee, the guy
asked dad about the polio vaccination drive that is happening in the village
and how he and the others are not vaccinating the infants. They believe that
America is trying to sterilize muslims to reduce the population. They believe
that vaccination can cause autism etc. So dad reminded our visitor that his
hand is disabled because he had caught polio in his childhood. STILL, the dude
was arguing with my dad. Needless to say, I was furious at the state of
affairs for the next few days :(

~~~
acchow
> So dad reminded our visitor that his hand is disabled because he had caught
> polio in his childhood. STILL, the dude was arguing with my dad.

This is unfortunate, but from his perspective his disabled hand is orthogonal
to the belief that the vaccination is tainted with some poison/sterilizer.

------
nealabq
Meanwhile in Pakistan the Taliban has banned polio vaccination.

[http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/vaccinators-
refu...](http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/vaccinators-refuse-to-
join-pak-polio-drive-due-to-threats/)

~~~
middleclick
It has mostly got to do with health workers who were at risk because the
clerics and Taliban threatened them. They also spread the misinformation that
vaccinations are a Western conspiracy against Pakistanis to sterilise and
reduce the population of Muslims.

[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/nov/04/...](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/nov/04/polio-
vaccination-pakistan)

Sadly, most people in these areas are uneducated and they believe what the
clerics tell them. The health workers were literally risking their lives.

~~~
ealexhudson
It didn't help that it turned out the CIA were running "fake" vaccination
campaigns to gather information though - that would have helped confirm
suspicions in the eyes of anyone, not just the uneducated.

~~~
pjg
That's how they got Bin Laden's hideout confirmation. By running a fake
vaccination campaign to get his children inoculated and collect and match the
DNA to confirm his presence. Unfortunate side-effect

~~~
auctiontheory
_Unfortunate side-effect_

May be unfortunate, but it's also highly predictable. "Solving" one problem to
create a much larger (longer-lasting) one has been a cornerstone of our
foreign policy.

~~~
waps
Frankly, even if true, and they actually vaccinated the children, I'd still
consider it a positive.

I would also note that the taliban were against vaccination before this
happened. So let's not pretend that this is the reason they're against it.
It's just a reason to blame the cia.

You should think of these guys as that they don't actually believe. They're
not muslims. They do believe, maybe even correctly, that their power is based
upon that religion. And so they wildly attack anything remotely suspected of
being against it. Meanwhile they themselves rape do drugs and alcohol and
worse. And they attack aid workers, since the idea that only allah can heal,
that they think essential.

~~~
sobkas
>Frankly, even if true, and they actually vaccinated the children, I'd still
consider it a positive.

To get hepatitis b immunity, You need to get two to three doses of vaccine. In
this case children only got one. I don't think it was an effective
immunization effort.

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/14/cia-fake-
vaccin...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/14/cia-fake-vaccination-
medecins-frontieres)

~~~
waps
Even one would protect you for ~10 years. It would still have a profound
positive effect. And yes, there are always better options in existence, and
there is always a shortage of people wanting to pay for it.

~~~
sobkas
I tough that the first dose of HBV vaccine doesn't give protection to every
vaccinated person, only roughly 30-50%?

[http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/data/chi31-2_vaccination-
ri...](http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/data/chi31-2_vaccination-risk.shtml)
(paragraph starting with "Administer the full 3-dose HBV vaccine")

I'm interested where did you found an info about that 10years period of
protection?

------
jigen
This is the result of one of the biggest vaccination drives ever. Great work
by India's central governement, various state governements, WHO, UNICEF,
Rotary International and various other NGOs and volunteers.

~~~
middleclick
The Gates Foundation had a very significant role in this.

~~~
jigen
NO. The Gates foundation's contribution to this initiative spanning several
decades is not very significant.

~~~
frakkingcylons
I suppose they may have only been involved since 2009, however the Foundation
has already contributed $1.2 billion with another 1.8 billion on the way.

Of course, as you mentioned, much credit goes to "various governments, the
WHO, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and Unicef."

~~~
jigen
The work done by the Gates foundation is admirable. But the $1.2 billion was
donated to the Rotary International for the Global Polio Eradication
initiative, not exclusively to be used in India. In fact, it's not even clear
if any of that was used in India at all. Moreover India itself has donated
$1.3 billion for the Global Polio Eradication initiative.

~~~
brudgers
The Gates foundation offered a $100 million matching grant to Rotary
International's Polio Plus program in 2009. The intial matching grant and
subsequent increases have been matched by Rotary's members.

[https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-and-gates-foundation-
extend...](https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-and-gates-foundation-extend-
fundraising-agreement-end-polio)

The reason the Gates Foundation got involved was to help fund the final push
to eradicate Polio.

------
rikacomet
I must say this clearly, in the interest of that is the truth:

Eradication of Polio, was a Nation and its people, combined effort, of years
and decades, through struggle and patience. First, the people in the West, who
provided the means in form of the vaccine, and the constant push to keep the
wheel running. Then the politicians, to set aside their differences, to accept
what is for the good of all, both Congress/BJP held the govt and supported
this cause without differences during the last 20 years. Thirdly the whole
fraternity of Polio workers and Associated services for the time of their
life. Fourthly, the families of the people involved for their patience, and
sacrifice. And Last but not the least, for people specially parents accross
all demographies to actually realize, the future of their kids, the promise of
a normal life to their kids, the future generation of this nation is in their
own hand. So they must come out in force-en-masse to achieve which is still
far away, yet getting closer.. and today, in this time and age we have finally
achieved what we set out to do years ago through a combined effort.

Now if someone as if dares to spit on that true wonder of human struggle, for
personal satisfaction of supporting a political party, or a person.. putting
them up as the lone saviour, disgrace and wrath of everything be upon such a
person. (God have mercy on such a man)

Also, I love HN, as it is... dispite what Pushy Politics was played by forged
accounts, and vested interests in the comment section of Indian Websites, HN
was always clean of such mess, and I thank the people responsible for that.
So, lets keep this that way.

This is Personal, if you haven't got it by now!

[http://media.cleveland.com/world_impact/photo/10442222-large...](http://media.cleveland.com/world_impact/photo/10442222-large.jpg)

PS: The Punchline for Indian Polio program was-- Do Boond Zindagi Ke(2 Drops
of Life)

One of the adverts (WITH ENG SUBS):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbCEualxnRs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbCEualxnRs)

------
ankitml
"India frees itself from polio"

 _Manages_ , makes it sound like a fluke. They could have used a better verb
for an amazing achievement. It was a very big grassroot level movement for
decades.

~~~
cpfohl
I like "Manages" it gives them full credit for the work they did...A manager
takes care of details to encourage a project's success...no fluke there unless
you're talking about a 'pointy haired boss' type of manager.

~~~
bluedino
In that case it describes how they did it. Quickly, slowly, etc. 'Manages' in
that case is not a flattering word.

------
bluedevil2k
Unfortunately there's a massive outbreak in Syria right now, big enough I was
encouraged to get a booster shot before I went to Israel.

~~~
aestra
Only if you consider 17 cases in the past year "massive" and no cases in the
last 3 months.

[http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisw...](http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek/Poliocasesworldwide.aspx)

------
rtpg
Not even 100 years before even the most powerful man in the world could do
nothing to fight this disease, now even the least fortunate can avoid having
to suffer from this. A great victory for humankind.

------
lifeisstillgood
Fantastic news. The chances of humanity actually managing to get its shit
together and make it past this century just ticked up a tiny tiny amount.

------
erikb
Am I the only one who can't read this because it requires some kind of login?

~~~
Cadsby
Copy and past the headline into a Google search. Paywalls generally don't
block links from social media or search engines.

~~~
logicallee
Link that should take you straight there:

[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303848104579312453860810752.html&ei=tiPTUsr_DYe0ywPA1IKQBg&usg=AFQjCNHDx6PsLz2H9Vpqj7sA5qa06LPX-Q&sig2=UuPQdpt5Tw9O4n1UKrWdZQ&bvm=bv.59026428,d.bGQ)

(Details: Google actually serves redirect pages in its results page, to track
which results are clicked. I copied the URL I was served rather than clicking
it and allowing my browser to redirect, so you can click it too and look like
you're coming from Google :). )

------
amvp
Which by itself is great news.

The Indian program involves giving multiple doses of the oral vaccine to babes
(Pulse Polio). Unfortunately the number of does of the oral vaccine babies
receive is correlated with AFP - Accute Flacid Paralysis - a tragedy similar
to the paralysis caused by polio. [http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/polio-
free-does-not-mea...](http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/polio-free-does-
not-mean-paralysis-free/article4266043.ece) In some states babies are getting
over a dozen doses.

A move to the injectible vaccine will reduce this risk, but since the
injectible vaccine costs a lot more it's likely the coverage will fall.

~~~
jacalata
I'd characterize that article as saying it "may be" correlated at strongest -
sounds like the WHO says oral doses have been decreasing for years while AFP
cases were still increasing?

------
NAFV_P
As long as a rogue agent doesn't get their hands on this:

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2122619.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2122619.stm)

~~~
waps
Viruses are the only way to change the DNA of a living human, and that's the
only way you're ever going to cure cancer, or fix things like diabetes, or ...
Plus it would allow for far more effective treatments for nearly any disease.

If you ever want to be immortal, or even 150, it's an infection with a virus
that'll make it possible. This research is definitely a net positive.

~~~
vacri
_Viruses are the only way to change the DNA of a living human_

Radiation can also change the DNA, and radiotherapy can also be used to cure
some cancers.

~~~
TeMPOraL
There's a difference between "change" as in "modify in a precise manner
without killing the organism", "change" as in "mutate stuff randomly", and
"change" as in "breed, irradiate, let the weak die, repeat until you have a
population with characteristics you want". Viruses can do the first one;
radiation only the latter two.

------
motyar
How I can make it go viral? Congrats, its a big news.

~~~
ForHackernews
> How I can make it go viral?

You can't. They're all vaccinated now. ;)

------
known
Indian regime is spending $1 billion/year on space research when 50% of its
children are malnourished.

[http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Every-second-Indian-child-
is...](http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Every-second-Indian-child-is-
malnourished-Report/articleshow/25724848.cms)

------
A258
weeee

