How India's experience in defeating two silent killers before may come in handy in fight against coronavirus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) executive director Dr Michael J Ryan, highlighted the extent to which India can play a leadership role in eradicating the menace of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in Geneva, he said that India led the world in the eradication of two silent killers - Small Pox and Polio and the future course of the Covid-19 pandemic hugely depends on what happens in densely populated countries like India.

“Smallpox killed more people on this planet than all wars together. India, through targeted public health interventions, ended that disease and gave a great gift to the world. India also eliminated polio, another silent killer, and did tremendous job on surveillance, on finding cases, and vaccinating and doing all the things that needed to be done,” a Times of India report quoted Ryan as saying at a briefing on Covid-19.

India, which was one of the worst-hit by Polio, was declared Polio-free in 2014 by the WHO. The milestone was achieved by an aggressive campaign of vaccination led by a determined cadre of volunteers and healthcare workers.

He also called for aggressive measures at public health level to stop the coronavirus from spreading further.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown across India as a means to stop the transmission of the virus and prevent it from slipping into stage 3 of local transmission.

The Prime Minister appealed to each and every India to stay indoors and not venture out during the period of the lockdown. All the essential services, including the likes of groceries and ATMs, will remain functional.

India has recorded a total of 562 cases so far with 9 deaths from the virus.