Polio Elimination in Uttar Pradesh
2011
This case describes key elements of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI) campaign in India. It particularly focuses on the challenges faced in eliminating polio from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Throughout the 1990s, India began implementing coordinated national polio immunization days to supplement routine immunization in health clinics in an effort to eliminate polio from the nation. The case provides contextual information about India and Uttar Pradesh as well as polio and polio vaccines. It then examines the roles of key partners in the GPEI, including Rotary International, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and UNICEF, and it describes the local operational challenges of the mass immunization campaign in Uttar Pradesh. The campaign has been unable to eliminate polio from this state, and the program leaders grapple with ways to improve the campaign's performance.
Learning Objectives: To understand the political and operational challenges of implementing a nation-wide disease elimination program and to appreciate how local, contextual factors influence the delivery of health interventions.
The Global Health Delivery (GHD) Project, an interdisciplinary collaboration between Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, investigates the management decisions behind disease treatment and prevention globally. The Global Health Delivery (GHD) Case Collection is a set of teaching case studies that are available for all at no cost online through Harvard Business Publishing, GHDonline, and The Case Centre.
Polio Elimination in Uttar Pradesh
Source:
Ellner A et al. Polio Elimination in Uttar Pradesh. Global Health Delivery Project, Harvard Business Publishing 2011. https://www.globalhealthdelivery.org/case-collection/case-studies/asia-and-middle-east/polio-elimination-in-uttar-pradesh.