The document describes India's successful health campaign, the Pulse Polio Program, aimed at eradicating poliomyelitis, initiated in 1995 and concluding with a polio-free certification in March 2014. It highlights the strategies employed, including celebrity endorsements and grassroots outreach, which helped address social barriers and promote vaccination. Ultimately, the campaign achieved a 100% success rate, resulting in the complete eradication of polio in India.

1. POLIO
ERADICATION
MODEL
An ICT Approach
Bidisha Goswami

2. Objective
• To understand the effectiveness of a health campaign
designed by the government of India in coordination
with United Nations and Rotary International to
eradicate a dangerous and crippling disease - polio .
• Started 1978 and completed in 2011.
• Success rate 100% with a polio-free certificate in
March 2014.

3. What is Polio Myletis
• Poliomyletis is a serious viral disease caused by the
polio virus.
• The word ‘myletis’ means an inflammation in the
spinal cord, which often targets insulating material
covering nerve cell fibers (myelin).

4. HOW DOES THE VIRUS
WORK ?
• The poliovirus which infects the human cells binds to
an immunoglobulin-like receptor which is known as
CD155, (also known as the poliovirus
receptor (PVR)) on the surface of the cell. This
interaction facilitates an irreversible formational
change of the viral particle necessary for viral entry.
Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the
poliovirus.
• The usual time from being infected with the virus to
the development of symptoms of disease (incubation)
ranges from 5 - 35 days (7 - 14 average days)

5. • The virus spreads by:
A direct person-to-person contact.
A contact with infected mucus/phlegm from the nose
or other organs.
A contact with infected feces (JK)).

6. PULSE POLIO PROGRAM
• In 1995-96, Government of India established ‘Pulse
Polio’ which is an immunization campaign designed to
eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in the country.
• State governments and Non Governmental
Organisations (NGOs), as a part of the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by Rotary
International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF,
and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. (Kasturi, 2014).

7. Background
• India was rated for 40,000 cases of polio in 1980s and
until 2002. The state of Uttar Pradesh alone was
accounted for 2/3rd of the world’s polio cases.
• No polio case reported since 2011.

8. 9th Annual Plan By The
Planning Commission Of India
• a) Started the PPP: Dec 1995
• b) Original Target of eradication: 2000
• c) Revised Target of eradication: 2002
• d) Further Revised Target of eradication: 2007

9. THE PROBLEMS IN THE
JOURNEY
• Some physical factors like malnutrition, diarrhea, and
entero-virus infection which are known to lower the
effectiveness of the vaccine.
• The upward trend of polio cases in UP was being
attributed to the fact that many Muslims in the state
turned more hesitant and hostile about allowing their
children to be vaccinated.
• Lack of education in rural areas was also one of the
main factors that influenced the behavior of the
people.

10. Celebrity Engagement For a
Public Cause
• Celebrity endorsement is a technique of brand
/ advertising campaign that involves a
famous person using their fame to help them in
promoting a product /service .
(Business Dictionary)
• Attracting Users
• Put Life Into The Cause
• Build Awareness
• Influence Behavior
• Positioning

11. The Major Campaign
“Do Boond Zindagi Ki”
• Translated meaning : “Two drops of Life”.
• Meaning: This meant two drops that had the power to
decide whether a child will walk , limp or die .

12. Objectives of the campaign
• To become the largest Pulse Polio Program (PPP)
initiative in the world.
• To use celebrities to give the campaign a voice.
• To use guerrilla marketing strategy to maximize
audience reach.
• To remain vigilant.
• To continue heavy screening and evaluation processes.

13. Journey Of the Campaign
• STEP 1
Polio Sundays
o People queued up at polio booths on Sundays to get
vaccinated .
oAppointed nurses and doctors were allotted to make
visits to the houses to provide the vaccinations .
o Arranged facilities in various public schools and
colleges in rural areas where doctors and nurses
would organize mobile clinics .

14. • STEP 2
 A media campaign with Amitabh Bachchan by Ogilvy
Mather.
Amitabh Bachchan : He was the most celebrated actor
since 1970s till date. Generations of Indians who
followed Amitabh Bachchan’s films understood his
disposition well .

15. Cntd.
Mediums used:
• TV spots -4000 times to over 80 million homes on
Doordarshan network, as well as to 40 million homes
with access to cable and satellite channels.
• The radio spots -1000 times to 54 million homes,
including 30 million in rural areas.
• Audio cassettes were made and sent off to Uttar
Pradesh.
• Arranged for publicity on megaphones mounted atop
rickshaws(a public transportation system).

16. Outcome of celebrity
engagement

17. • STEP 3
• Puppet show (kathputli) – initiative by Thomson
Social.
• It ran a puppet show at 500 village Haats. A Haat is a
weekly marketplace
• STEP 4
• Thomson also designed a calendar that carried a
routine immunization schedule as well as dates of PPP
and their main target was school children.
• They also gave away posters to paste on key lanes and
village entrances.
• The intensive outreach enabled UNICEF to cover 2,894
villages and interact with some 600,000 target
audience, essentially parents, within 10 days.

18. Conclusion
• Resulted in 100% successful eradication of polio from
the entire country.