New York Times blog features interview with Indian polio expert

To mark World Polio Day, the New York Times' "India Ink" blog features an interview with Naveen Thacker, a member of the team that led India's polio eradication efforts. The country has not recorded a new case of polio since January 2011 and is in line to be declared polio-free in January 2014 if no new cases occur, according to the blog. Thacker says "strong leadership and political support at every level of government," including public-private partnerships, were critical to eradication efforts, the blog notes. "To remain polio-free we must ensure the maintenance of our highly sensitive surveillance system, so that we can detect outbreaks early, and we must also sustain high levels of polio immunization through routine immunization," Thacker says, adding, "Globally, we've made amazing progress, but 99 percent reduction in polio cases isn't good enough. We need to finish the job," according to the blog (Raina, 10/24).