Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Harsh Vardhan as the State Minister of Health in 1994 oversaw the successful implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunisation of 1 million children up to the age of 3 in Delhi. In 1995, this programme was launched nationwide leading to 88 million children being immunised. On 28 March 2014, India was declared polio-free by the WHO, as there had been no reported cases for three years. In 1997, the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smokers Health Protection Act was passed in the Delhi assembly which was one of the first anti-tobacco laws implemented by any state government. The act applied across the NCT of Delhi. It prohibited smoking in places of public work or use for example hospitals, restaurants, and educational institutions and in public service vehicles. It also prohibited the sale of smoking substances such as tobacco and beedis to anyone below the age of eighteen. Smoking products could not also be sold or stored within 100 metres of any educational institution. Under the provisions of the act, fines would be applied to anyone who contravened the law and they could potentially be ejected from places of public use by the police.

Harsh Vardhan has received the following awards and recognitions: i) IMA President’s Special Award of Appreciation by the Indian Medical Association in 1994. ii) Director-General’s Polio Eradication Champion Award Commendation Medal by the World Health Organization in 1998. iii) Polio Eradication Champion Award by the Rotary International in 2001. iv) “Doctor of the Last Decade” (Swastha Ratna) by Indian Medical Association’s New Delhi branch in 2002.