Polio resurgence

Today marks World Polio Day, a day to highlight efforts to eradicate the poliovirus disease worldwide. This commitment was first made by the World Health Assembly in 1988. Overall, the global anti-polio campaign has been one of tremendous success with only two countries in the world today yet to be rid of the crippling disease. Sadly, one of those countries is Pakistan and the other is Afghanistan. On this World Polio Day, the former seems further from conquering polio than it has been in years. There are still over two months left in the year and the nation has already logged 39 polio cases, the highest total since 2020. The affected are mostly children, as is usually the case with polio, and at least four of these children have tragically lost their lives. According to the prime minister’s focal person for polio, the virus has now reached 71 districts. Balochistan and Sindh are the most affected provinces, accounting for 20 and 12 cases respectively. The challenge has been further exacerbated by unusual population movement patterns following the government’s decision to repatriate unregistered foreigners. Many families have gone into hiding, leaving a significant number of children unvaccinated.

The security situation in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, where polio campaigns are frequently disrupted, is cited as another major hurdle in the battle against the disease. Another recent development complicating anti-polio efforts is growing demands-based refusal, particularly in Balochistan and KP, where communities boycott polio vaccination campaigns to demand other services from the government. Then there is the longstanding issue of anti-vaccine propaganda. As things stand, over four million planned vaccinations have been missed during immunisation campaigns across the country in 2024, according to a report released by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) released last month. Around one million children are also thought to have missed their polio vaccinations in September alone. If things continue like this, Pakistan will never be able to eradicate polio, highlighting the urgent need to address the factors preventing vaccines from reaching those who need them and the trends fuelling vaccine refusal. It is nothing short of tragic that there are still so many people in the country who will adamantly refuse life-saving help for their children due to misguided notions and the fact that things have been allowed to deteriorate to this level reflects poorly on those who have been in power over the last decade or so.

In response to the ongoing resurgence in polio cases, the prime minister has approved the National Emergency Action Plan for Polio 2024-25. The plan will reportedly focus on vaccinating mobile and migrant populations and coordinating with neighbouring Afghanistan to combat the disease. Special emphasis will also be placed on integrated service delivery encompassing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and nutrition in high-risk areas. According to an official of the polio programme, while the country’s previous approach to polio has mainly been reactive, this plan will help pivot to a more proactive approach where authorities aim to stay one step ahead of the disease. There are also two more polio vaccination campaigns planned before the end of December, with the first set to kick off on October 28. It is encouraging to see that the government is treating the polio crisis with the seriousness that it deserves. The main hitch appears to be the fact that many people still refuse to treat this problem with the urgency that the state has and keep refusing vaccines, while the environment for polio workers continues to remain unsafe due to the ongoing security issues and anti-vaccine propaganda. If the country continues to remain unable to tackle this destructive and malicious narrative, parents keep refusing vaccines, and polio workers keep getting shot or prevented from reaching all children, no number of campaigns will be enough to free Pakistan from polio.