- Every year on 24 October, World Polio Day is celebrated.
- It is celebrated to highlight global efforts towards a polio-free world and to honor the contribution made by frontline health workers in the fight against polio.
- The theme of World Polio Day 2023 is “A healthier future for mothers and children.”
- In 1985, Rotary International introduced World Polio Day to honor the contributions of Jonas Salk, the head medical researcher in the research team that created the first vaccine for polio.
- This year, on January 13, India completed 12 years of being polio-free, which is considered a remarkable achievement.
- The World Health Organization declared India polio-free in 2014.
- The last case of polio in India was found in 2011.
- India is vigilant to prevent the re-entry of poliovirus into the country from neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
