Polio Case
Pakistan reported a new polio case in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday, bringing the total number of polio cases in the country for 2024 to 68.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed the case, noting that it was caused by the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).
This marks another setback in the ongoing efforts to eradicate polio in the country, which remains one of the last two countries globally, along with Afghanistan, where the disease is still endemic.
Polio predominantly affects children under the age of five, often leading to lifelong paralysis, and continues to pose a significant public health challenge.
Despite global efforts to eliminate the virus, the persistence of security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and the spread of misinformation have slowed the progress of eradication campaigns.
On Saturday, environmental samples collected from 26 already infected districts tested positive for the wild poliovirus type 1, signaling the continued spread of the disease.
The NIH report confirmed that this new case in Dera Ismail Khan was the 68th WPV1 case of the year.
The distribution of these cases across the country reveals the geographic spread of the virus: 27 cases in Balochistan, 20 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19 in Sindh, and one each in Punjab and Islamabad.
Polio remains a paralyzing disease with no known cure, making vaccination a critical preventive measure.
To combat this, Pakistan’s Polio Programme conducts multiple mass vaccination drives throughout the year, delivering the oral polio vaccine directly to children at their homes.
Additionally, the Expanded Programme on Immunization offers free vaccinations for 12 childhood diseases at health facilities.
A sub-national Polio vaccination campaign was carried out across multiple regions, including Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Islamabad, from December 16 to 22, reaching over 42 million children.
The second phase of the campaign has now begun in Balochistan, with plans to vaccinate children in 36 districts of the province.
To effectively fight polio, it is crucial that parents ensure all children under the age of five are vaccinated, providing them with high immunity against this debilitating disease.
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