‘Polio cases decrease by 99pc this year’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has scored exceptionally well in eradicating the polio virus as the cases have decreased by over 99 per cent in this year if compared with the previous ones.

The only case which emerged at the start of this year January 25 was from Killa Abdullah, Balochistan, after which no case of polio has emerged across the country. In the previous years, in 2020, a total of 84 cases emerged of polio virus and in 2019, there were 147 cases in the whole country. Polio has been recorded to only nine per cent from environmental samplings in the current year as compared to 55 per cent in the last year.

However, Pakistan has yet to wait for three complete years with no polio case to be globally recognized as a polio-free state, The News has learnt. Director General Health and Focal Person for Polio Eradication in Pakistan Dr Shehzad Baig told The News this time, not a single child below the age of five is left, who hasn’t been vaccinated. Giving credit to over 35 hundred thousand frontline workers who took part in the polio eradication campaign, he said Pakistan is a brink away from being a polio-free country.

Interestingly, Afghanistan which is the only country other than Pakistan fighting the polio virus has also witnessed only one case in this year. Shehzad revealed that due to the cooperation of the Afghan government, Pakistan has launched multiple campaigns in Afghanistan and Chaman and Torkham to completely wipe out the virus from the environment.

Zulfiqar Babakhel, senior manager media affairs of Polio Eradication Programme Pakistan, when contacted by The News, said the virus in the environment was only recorded at nine per cent in this whole year.

“During the last three months, the test samples for polio showed complete wipeout of the virus from all parts of the country which is a huge accomplishment”, revealed Zulfiqar. The official said that last year when the samples for the polio virus were taken from the environment, the detection rate of the virus was over 55 per cent.

When questioned about the benchmark for polio-free countries and is Pakistan now considered a polio-free country, Zulfiqar said Pakistan will be declared a polio-free state when it passes three years without witnessing a single case of polio.

Explaining the steps being taken to assure the eradication of polio from both humans and the environment, the official said over 41 million children below the age of five are present in Pakistan at this time and all of them are vaccinated through door-to-door campaigns by the frontline workers.

Further, he disclosed that three mega nationwide campaigns were also launched to ascertain that the virus gets killed and completely eradicated from the environment. Afghanistan, with the help of Pakistan, has also been doing countrywide campaigns for polio eradication and it has vaccinated all the children below the age of five years. The DG Health and Polio Eradication Programme officials who were contacted by The News also disclosed that countless efforts are being made in Afghanistan and its borders with Pakistan to clean the environment from polio.

On borders like Chaman and Torkham, all people are being monitored and vaccinated. The News learned from these officials that over 3.5 lakh workers were involved in frontline campaigns for polio eradication from Pakistan to ensure maximum precautions and safety from the virus.

The DG Health told The News that simultaneous campaigns are being carried out in both the countries as it is a must to keep the virus off the environment as people cross borders regularly. He praised the cooperation of the Afghanistan government and hoped that soon Pakistan and Afghanistan will become polio-free states. If Pakistan and Afghanistan manage to wipe out polio and no case emerges in these countries for three straight years, the whole world will be completely polio-free, Zulfiqar told The News.