Health workers walk on snow during a polio vaccination drive in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s Neelum Valley. File
| Photo Credit: AFP
Pakistani authorities have confirmed two new poliovirus cases, one each in Sindh and Punjab provinces, posing a setback to the country’s efforts to eradicate the crippling disease, according to a media report.
The new cases were reported from Qambar district in Sindh and Mandi Bahauddin district in Punjab, bringing the total number of cases this year to five, Geo News reported.
According to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), this is the third case of the crippling disease in Sindh and the first in Punjab.
Last year, a total of 74 cases were reported. Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 23 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
Polio is a paralysing disease that has no cure and only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can provide children with high immunity against this terrible disease.
Pakistan through its anti-polio vaccination programme conducts multiple mass vaccination drives in a year, bringing the vaccine to children at their doorsteps, while the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) provides vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases free of charge at health facilities.
The first nationwide polio campaign of 2025 conducted from February 3 to 9 was successfully concluded with 99% of the targets achieved across the country.
During this campaign, more than 45 million children were administered the polio vaccine.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where poliovirus is still rampant. The main reason is the refusal on the part of parents who, under the influence of extremists, believe the vaccine was a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.
Published – February 28, 2025 01:03 pm IST
