India runs a "high risk" of importing polio virus from its neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, the government today said.
In a reply to Parliament, Health Minister JP Nadda also said that India has offered to host technical missions from such polio-endemic countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan to observe the national immunisation day exercises held here as part of the anti-polio campaign.
"Yes, India runs a high risk of importing the polio virus from its neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan," Nadda said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
He said that, according to WHO data, these are the only two countries worldwide that have persistent transmission due to wild polio virus in the 2013-14 period and "remain endemic" to the disease.
"Afghanistan has reported 28 polio cases and Pakistan 306 cases during 2014 as per the latest report," Nadda said.
Regarding the country's bid to assist in efforts to combat polio, Nadda said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in his SAARC speech in Nepal in November last year expressed India's support in terms of ensuring monitoring and surveillance of polio-free countries and providing vaccines where it might reappear.
"The government offered its assistance through the Ministry of External Affairs for technical missions to visit India from polio-endemic countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan to observe National Immunisation days/Sub-national Immunisation days for polio campaigns," he said.
India was last year officially certified by WHO to be a 'polio-free country.
