Instead of the traditional holy water offered by priests in Hindu temples, holy men in India are blessing children with drops that immunize for polio in order to help national health officials help eradicate the disease from an impoverished eastern state. More than 650 cases of polio were reported among India's vast population, but many were in the poverty-stricken province of Bihar, where the population is extremely religious and looks upon Hindu temple priests with great reverence. "We are keen to wipe out polio and we thought involving temple priests would be a good idea as people trust and listen to them," said Gopal Krishna, a senior Bihar health official. Krishna's agency has trained hundreds of priests to administer the immunizations.

Polio has been eliminated from most developed countries, but still paralyzes children in India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I was very surprised when the priest put polio drops into the mouths of several children, including my son, as god's blessings," said Sunita Devi of Bihar. "But we trust the priest as he can do us no harm."