CM Samrat Choudhary Marks World Polio Day, Pledges Polio-Free Bihar
Synopsis
On World Polio Day 2026, Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary praised health workers driving polio eradication and urged a collective resolve to ensure complete child vaccination and protect India's WHO-certified polio-free status, achieved in 2014.
Key Takeaways
Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary marked World Polio Day on 24 October 2026 by honouring frontline health workers dedicated to polio eradication.
He called for universal child vaccination to maintain India's polio-free status , certified by WHO in 2014 .
India's Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme was launched in 1995 ; the last wild poliovirus case was recorded in 2011 .
Bihar remains a priority state in national polio surveillance due to high population density and seasonal migration patterns.
India sustains polio-free status through the Universal Immunisation Programme and the National Polio Surveillance Project .
Wild poliovirus type 1 still circulates in Pakistan and Afghanistan , keeping importation risk globally relevant.
On World Polio Day, 24 October 2026, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary saluted the health workers and partners who have dedicated themselves to polio eradication — and called on every citizen to renew the commitment to keeping India polio-free.
Posting in Hindi on X, the Chief Minister wrote: 'On World Polio Day, I appreciate the tireless efforts of all health workers and partners dedicated to polio eradication. Let us, on this occasion, resolve to ensure complete vaccination of every child and to sustain the achievement of a polio-free India. Healthy children are the foundation of a strong and prosperous nation. Healthy children, safe future!'From 1995 to Polio-Free: The Road India Already Walked
India launched the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme in 1995, setting off one of the world's most ambitious public-health campaigns. Decades of door-to-door vaccination drives, cold-chain logistics across some of the country's most difficult terrain, and relentless community outreach paid off when the World Health Organisation certified India polio-free in 2014 — three years after the last recorded wild poliovirus case in 2011. That milestone placed India among nations once thought least likely to achieve it.
The victory was never meant to be permanent on its own. India's Universal Immunisation Programme and the National Polio Surveillance Project continue to run annual supplementary immunisation rounds precisely because eradication elsewhere in the world remains incomplete and importation risk is real.
Why Bihar Stays on the Frontline
Bihar has historically been among the high-risk states in India's polio surveillance map, owing to high population density, significant seasonal migration, and historically uneven routine immunisation coverage. Supplementary immunisation campaigns in the state have been a recurring feature of national polio strategy, requiring coordination between state health machinery, frontline workers, and central agencies. CM Choudhary's message on this day carries institutional weight — a signal from the state's top office that vigilance remains non-negotiable.
His framing — 'स्वस्थ बच्चे, सुरक्षित भविष्य' ('Healthy children, safe future') — echoes the public-health consensus that immunisation is not a health intervention alone but an economic and developmental one: a child lost to a preventable disease is a future withheld.
World Polio Day and the Global Stakes
World Polio Day is observed every 24 October, marking the birth anniversary of Jonas Salk, developer of the first polio vaccine. The day is a reminder that while wild poliovirus type 1 still circulates in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the global campaign will remain incomplete — and no nation entirely without risk — until the virus is gone everywhere. For a state like Bihar, that global reality translates directly into local vigilance.
Point of View
Where supplementary immunisation campaigns have been central to the national polio strategy, a public statement from the Chief Minister's office can galvanise district-level health administration. The broader subtext is the BJP's consistent messaging that flagship public-health achievements under central and state governance must be actively defended, not taken for granted. With global eradication still incomplete, India's polio-free status is a brand as much as a milestone — and senior leaders invoking it on World Polio Day is part of sustaining the political will that keeps the surveillance machinery funded and alert.
NationPress
24 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When was India declared polio-free?
India was certified polio-free by the WHO in 2014 , three years after the last recorded wild poliovirus case in 2011 .
Why does Bihar need special focus on polio vaccination?
Bihar is classified as a high-risk state in India's polio surveillance framework due to high population density, large-scale seasonal migration, and historically uneven routine immunisation coverage, making supplementary vaccination campaigns critical.
What is World Polio Day and when is it observed?
World Polio Day is observed every 24 October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, and to renew global commitment to polio eradication.
What is India's Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme?
The Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme was launched in 1995 as a nationwide campaign to administer oral polio vaccine to all children under five, and is widely credited with helping India achieve polio-free status.
What did Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary say on World Polio Day 2026?
Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary praised all health workers and partners dedicated to polio eradication and urged citizens to resolve to ensure complete vaccination of every child, calling healthy children 'the foundation of a strong and prosperous nation.'
