Polio ad creates confusion : Bhubaeshwar

Responding to an advertisement, parents across the state took their children for oral polio immunization on Sunday, but had to return dejected as the campaign was not meant for Odisha. The state government has decided to take up the matter with the Centre as the latter had issued the confusing advertisement.

A giant display advertisement carrying a photograph of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi administering polio drops to a child mentioned June 16 as Pulse Polio Day and requested parents to ensure oral drops to children below five years of age.

The IEC (information, education, communication) division of the ministry of health and family welfare had issued the publicity material.

"I saw the advertisement in a newspaper and took my son to a nearby school which is converted into a polio booth during such campaigns. Since it was closed, I headed for Capital Hospital. There I was told that the campaign was not meant for Odisha," said Roji Sahu, a resident of Unit IX.

"If the campaign was not for Odisha, the advertisement should not have been issued in Odia in vernacular dailies. It created a lot of confusion. I unnecessarily moved from one place to another in the scorching heat, cutting short the Raja celebrations," said Mahendra Swain, a resident of GGP Colony. Similar reports poured in from Sambalpur, Rourkela, Berhampur, Bargarh and Balangir.

Odisha has decided to bring the matter to the Centre's notice to stop future confusion.

"We will write to the ministry of health and family welfare on Monday so that they don't issue such advertisements in future. Several people called up to cross-check with us after having failed to spot a booth in the city," said state immunization officer Biswajit Dasmohapatra.

"I myself was surprised to see the advertisement. Though it mentions the states where it is applicable, these are written in very small letters towards the end of the advertisement compared to other texts on it. Since the campaign was not meant for Odisha, the advertisement was anyways unnecessary and could have been avoided," he said.

Sources said the campaign was meant for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Chandigarh and parts of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

"Since Odisha has been polio-free with no cases being reported in past four and a half years, oral polio campaign will no more be undertaken in the sate," Dasmohapatra added.


Source : TOI , 17th June 2013