Over 200 polio surveillance units set up in different parts of the country are soon to become obsolete as the Centre plans to shut them down. The World Health Organisation (WHO)- established National Polio Surveillance Network (NPSN) was set up in India in the 90s.
According to the officials, the NSPN centres received a communication from the WHO's representative in India, Roderico H. Ofrin, advising them of an upcoming transition initiated by the government.
The move by the Centre was criticised by experts and National Institute of Health and Family Welfare officials as polio is still prevalent in neighbouring countries. The Centre's decision is also linked with a corresponding reduction in financial support from the government.
"Though India has not reported any polio cases since 2011, the threat of the disease looms with the cases still active in neighbouring countries," said an expert.
Countries including Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to report polio cases and immunisation in those regions has taken a hit as well.
The transition is likely to take place in three years as the government is planning to shut down the centres in phases each year. "We are not disbanding teams overnight...specific units will phase out at set intervals as government systems ramp up and absorb these functions," said Dr Ofrin.
The polio surveillance network would be subsumed within the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme.
Earlier the Union health ministry proposed making use of the vast polio surveillance network active in the country to screen other new and emerging infectious diseases, with the aim to catch the potential outbreaks early.
A vast network for polio surveillance is set up jointly by India and WHO in the 90s to keep track of the disease.
WHO declared India polio-free in 2014. The last polio case was recorded in 2011.
Since 2014, the NPSN has been functioning as a unit of the Central government, which expanded the role of the staff to conduct surveillance for measles, rubella and DPT-(diphtheria, pertussis or whooping cough, and tetanus).