ISLAMABAD: After another case of polio was reported in North Waziristan on Friday, the number of virus cases in the country has reached 11 this year as compared to one case last year.
On the other hand, the apex global health body said that Pakistan is among the four countries reporting wild poliovirus (WPV) apart from Afghanistan, Mozambique and Malawi.
While all the cases in Pakistan this year were reported from North Waziristan, eight of them were reported from Mir Ali area alone.
The latest victim of the crippling disease is an eight-month-old boy who has been paralyzed by WPV. According to an official of the Ministry of National Health Services, the child was a resident of Mir Ali in North Waziristan.
“The emergency measures adopted by the Pakistan Polio Program have so far controlled the virus in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the official claimed.
WHO body expresses concern over situation in East Phata district
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said in a statement that the entire country needed to support efforts to eliminate polio. “If families give their child two drops of polio vaccine every time, we can save all the children,” he said.
The Minister urged the traditional and social media, religious scholars and all sections of the society to play their part in raising public awareness about the polio vaccine.
WHO warns about VDPV
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday released a report about the 32nd meeting of the Emergencies Committee under the International Health Regulations (2005) on the international spread of poliovirus.
The meeting convened last week reviewed data on WPV1 and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) in the context of the global eradication of the virus, and the situation in the occupied territories of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel, Malawi and the United States. technical update. Palestinian Territories and Pakistan, and written updates were provided by Eritrea and Yemen.
According to the report, the committee expressed concern over the second WPV1 found in Mozambique, close to the border with Malawi, where the first case was detected. Genetic sequencing of the two cases inferred that a single import event from Pakistan/Afghanistan may have occurred between July 2019 and December 2020.
North Waziristan’s concern
The Committee expressed concern about the recent WPV1 outbreak in North Waziristan. It noted that major challenges hindering progress in the Southern KP region include the complex security situation resulting in inadequate access, missed children and reduced quality of operations. It said, “Community resistance faces all kinds of challenges including vaccination (including vaccination boycotts and fake finger-marking without vaccination), shortage and high turnover of frontline workers, and weak health infrastructure and service delivery. ,” it said.
The committee recommended extension of the tentative recommendations for another three months.
As per the recommendations, every person should be vaccinated and carry a valid vaccination card when traveling through restricted countries, including Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, June 25, 2022