Eleven years after India wiped out polio, a public health victory that once seemed impossible, the country stands at a crossroads. The government's reported plan to gradually shut down the National Polio Surveillance Network (NPSN) has unsettled doctors and public health experts who warn that complacency could undo decades of progress.
It's a quiet decision that could have loud consequences. For most Indians, polio is now a forgotten word — something their parents remember from old vaccination drives, or from the heart-wrenching images of children dragging weak limbs down dusty village roads.
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But for doctors who spent years on the frontlines, that memory is far too fresh to take comfort in our current success.
India reported its last polio case in 2011 and was declared polio-free in 2014, a mome
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