Polio in Pak - 6 fresh polio cases surface in Pakistan including 2 in KP
PESHAWAR: Six new polio cases have surfaced in Pakistan, including two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The new cases in KP have been reported from Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan districts. In Punjab, two cases have been reported from Dera Ghazi Khan, while in Sindh, one case has been reported from Jamshoro and another from Qambar.
According to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), in Lakki Marwat, a nine-month-old girl is diagnosed with poliovirus in Serai Naurang tehsil, while in DI Khan, a 24-month-old boy has been infected with the crippling disease. The samples of children were sent to laboratory tests on December 24 where it was confirmed that the children are infected by poliovirus.
With the emergence of new cases, the tally of 2019 in Pakistan has mounted to 2019, including 91 cases in KP. Lakki Marwat proved to be the most vulnerable district of KP for polio cases during last year with 31 cases.
The emergence of so many polio cases in Pakistan, particularly in KP, during 2019 has brought the federal and provincial governments under pressure over their performance and strategy to control the spread of disease.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has particularly witnessed most cases of polio mainly due to refusal of parents to cooperate with the vaccination teams. The southern district of Lakki Marwat remained the most affected area due to the same reason. Experts believe that polio vaccination efforts cannot succeed completely until the refusing parents are convinced to cooperate with vaccination teams. They say Ulema can play crucial role in removing misconceptions about vaccination.
The EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit says provision of vaccination to each and every child below the age of five years is must to eliminate the disease from the country.
Currently, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world which have not fully eradicated polio. The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has turned 2019 a horrible year for Pakistan polio eradication programme mainly due to politicisation of the programme. And now the year 2020 has a horrible start as many cases have been reported within the last one week.
Source: Tribal News Network
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