Eradicated diseases from India
Eradicated diseases from India
Introduction
To completely eliminate diseases one has to eradicate them. India has eradicated many such diseases through systematic government intervention along with the support of the World Health Organisation and immunisation campaigns covering the entire country. Eradicated diseases need to have vaccines and treatment available to mitigate them. In this article we will explore how India eradicated such diseases.
Guineaworm
India has eradicated many diseases from India such as Guinea worm and small pox by the World Health Organisation. Guinea worm was eradicated in 2000.
Guinea worm was a public problem in many states caused by nematode worm Dranaculus medinisis . The clearance of this eradicated disease was given by a three member team who investigated 62 villages where the epidemic arose.
This eradication of Guinea worm was a remarkable achievement due to collaboration between key departments of health, water supply and rural development.
This disease was eradicated in India through continuous surveying, operations and regular reporting. Vector control through sanitation of water eradicated this disease and providing safe drinking water to households, case management and health education eradicated this scourge from India.
Polio
Eradicating polio from India was a mammoth task of dedication and commitment as India had 60% people infected by polio.
India was considered such a location from which it was very difficult to eradicate this disease due to large population, poor sanitation, and incidence of diarrhoea and Muslims who did not accept the vaccine.
India set up polio immunisation booths to combat this disease, door to door checks to find out if anyone has children below the age of five who require this vaccine and collaboration of WHO and India combined to eradicate this disease in India.
Small pox
Small pox was one of the worst epidemics in the year 1974 contracting 31,262people. Most people died in the states of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. Target Zero was launched and with the help of international volunteers and door to door campaigns. First it covered rash fever campaigns, collection of specimens leading to death by small pox or fever. Rajasthan was also surveyed for suspected infections of small pox.
India was declared free of smallpox on April 23,1977
Eradication of Yaws in India
India‘s development in health initiatives has been path breaking since the eradication of yaws and small pox.
Yaws is a chronic bacterial infection caused by trephonemes caused in people who live in unhygienic conditions. Tribal population of India was particularly affected by this disease. The eradication of yaws was done through house to house search which helped detect 200 thousand cases from various states such as Orissa, Andhra Pradesh which led to a rapid decline of cases from 3571 to 2000 and then 46 after three years and on 2006, yaws was eliminated from India.
Conclusion
Eradication in diseases has been fundamental due to the combined efforts of house to house search and the initiatives of UNICEF and WHO which have helped many third world countries in achieving complete eradication. Malaria is the only disease left to be eradicated from India and many countries of the world.
