Islamabad/Karachi, Oct 19 (PTI) Pakistan reported another four cases of poliovirus taking the national tally to 37 this year, a media report said on Saturday.
The regional reference laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, on Friday, confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV 1) in three children from Balochistan and one child from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), The Dawn newspaper reported.
The children affected by the wild poliovirus include a girl from Pishin, two boys from Chaman and Noshki in Balochistan, and a girl from Lakki Marwat district of KP, according to an official of the regional reference laboratory for polio eradication.
Of the 37 cases detected from across Pakistan so far this year, the official said, 20 have been reported from Balochistan, 10 from Sindh, five from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
“Genetic sequencing of the cases is underway,” he disclosed.
“These were the first polio cases from Noshki and Lakki Marwat this year,” he said, adding that both Chaman and Pishin had reported one poliovirus case each earlier as well.
Officials claimed that the fight against poliovirus in Balochistan and southern KP suffered throughout 2023 and early 2024, as immunisation campaigns were either staggered or postponed due to localised protests, insecurity and community boycotts, leaving a cohort of missed children who could sustain virus transmission.
Noshki is located on the border with Afghanistan and borders Quetta and Mastung districts where environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1 in recent months, indicating virus circulation, while Lakki Marwat has also reported multiple positive environmental samples recently.
The rise in the number of active polio cases in the Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces has led health authorities to probe into reports of a nexus between some health workers and parents leading to many infants and children not being vaccinated.
“Cases have emerged from Balochistan and KP in particular where some health workers and parents have colluded leading to partial vaccination of infants and children,” a senior health official said.
Pakistan remains one of the few countries in the world where polio remains endemic, and Balochistan in particular has been a hotbed of cases.
In recent years, the government, in collaboration with international organisations such as UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), has launched numerous polio vaccination drives across the province.
Dr Wakeel Rana in the Balochistan health department said health workers and parents were not making eradication successful.
“We will not be able to fully eradicate the polio disease among infants and children unless everyone cooperates,” he said.
The number of polio cases has risen to 20 in Balochistan and the health official said an initial probe had shown that in many cases, health workers and parents left vaccination drives incomplete.
According to the data by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, Sindh has reported 10 cases. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen five cases, and Punjab and Islamabad have each confirmed one case this year.
The resurgence of polio in these regions comes despite continued vaccination efforts.
The Ministry of Health said since January 2022, a total of USD 447 million has been spent on polio eradication efforts with USD 80 million being allocated for 2024.
A nationwide polio vaccination campaign will be launched on October 28 to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five against paralytic polio, according to Dawn.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation. PTI SH CORR AMS GSP
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