India marks March 16 as National Vaccination Day, commemorating the Pulse Polio Immunization Programme launched in 1995.
India’s first oral polio vaccine dose was administered on March 16, 1995, as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) campaign starting in 1988. The government launched the 'Do Boond Zingaki Ki' (Two drops of life) campaign in 1998 to educate people about the advantages of vaccination.
Children aged 0 to 5 received two drops of the vaccine orally at public health centres as part of the polio eradication campaign.