Pakistan reports this year's ninth case of poliovirus

With the latest case detected in the Zhob district of Balochistan on Saturday, the total number of poliovirus cases in Pakistan has risen to nine.

A one and a half-year-old infant from Zhob's Union Council 2 in the Hassanzai area was confirmed to have contracted the poliovirus.

Prime Minister's Coordinator for National Health Services Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad said that nine children had been struck by the disease in the country in 2024, so far.

Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq advised people to get their children administered anti-polio doses. She said the most effective way to prevent the disease was to get multiple polio immunisation doses.

Meanwhile, Coordinator for the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication Muhammad Anwar Ul Haq said the government had carried out six anti-poliovirus drives this year.

“Various strategies are being adopted to protect children from the disease,” he said.

Pakistan is among a couple of remaining polio-endemic countries in the world.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus, mainly affecting children under the age of five years, who are malnourished and have weak immunity because of being under-vaccinated or not vaccinated for polio and other childhood diseases.

The illness invades the nervous system and causes paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease.

Prime Minister Shehbaz, Gates pledge again to uproot polio

As Pakistan remains in the grip of poliovirus despite the government's rigorous efforts towards eradication of the paralysing disease, PM Shehbaz Sharif and Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Bill Gates on June 24 renewed the pledge to wipe it out of the country.

Gates had expressed his confidence that with a sustained vaccination campaign and firm commitment of the Pakistani government, the polio eradication drive would get back on track to end the crippling disease following the recent surge in environmental detections.

The premier outlined a robust and focused strategy to counter threats of increased wild poliovirus infections and the actions needed to overcome the challenge to completely wipe out the disease from Pakistan.

He also reiterated the firm commitment to eradicating polio, emphasising that all resources of the state shall be employed to provide security to the polio workers.