Tuesday, September 19 2006 15:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Rattled by a spurt in polio cases which have touched a figure of 297 this year, the Union Health Ministry has called an emergency meeting of Health Ministers and officials of polio affected states here on September 21.

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has called a meeting of Health Ministers and Health Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

The meeting also comes in the backdrop of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reportedly writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing concern over the increase in polio cases in the country.

A total of 297 cases were reported till September 15 as against a total of 66 cases reported in 2005.

Uttar Pradesh presented an alarming picture with a total of 269 cases with Moradabad district reporting as many as 56 cases this year.

Other western UP districts like Muzaffarnagar has reported 25 cases, Badaun and Meerut accounted for 24 cases each, Bijnor (23), Ramput (21), J P Nagar (19), Bareilly (13), Ghaziabad (11), Aligarh and Bulandshahar (6 each) among others.

"The State Government has not been able to implement the programme properly. It is failure on the part of the district administration. Everything is provided by the Central government," sources in the Union Health Ministry said.