Single most important stumbling block: 5 new polio cases raise national tally to 171

Two cases reported from FATA, one from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa one from Karachi, one from Balochistan.



QUETTA/ KARACHI: Five new polio cases were confirmed in the country on Tuesday, raising the national count for 2014 to 171.

Of the five reported cases, two are from FATA, one from Balochistan, one from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one from Karachi.

With the confirmation of today's cases, number of polio cases in FATA has reached 121 while 29 cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. Punjab seems to be least affected with polio virus with 2 confirmed cases of polio this year.

The latest polio case from Karachi is of 24-month old Hazrat Bilal son of Khayal Mohammad. He is a resident of Union Council 2, Firdous Colony in Liaquatabad, the heart of the city. According to the health department, the boy was never administered polio vaccine as his family is among those who refused polio drops.

With this case, the total number of polio cases in Sindh this year has risen to 15.

Fourth Polio case in Balochistan

A senior health expert confirmed on Tuesday that samples taken from 23-month-old Mohammed Ibrahim in Kharotabad area of Quetta had tested positive for polio. This is the fourth reported polio case for the province this year.

“It is a chronic refusal case. The family refused to administer polio drops to their children,” a senior Health worker said.

Ibrahim’s uncle is a religious leader and heads a religious seminary in Kharotabad, a predominantly Afghan refugee’s settlement. “The family thinks polio drops is part of a western campaign to control the Muslim population,” an official of private organisation working on polio in the area said.

Polio board

The meeting of the Independent Monitoring Board for Polio is scheduled on September 30 and according to sources Pakistan may get slapped with more restrictions internationally.

Travelers from Pakistan already face restrictions of carrying polio certificates on international flights.

According to sources the chief ministers of all four provinces are expected to attend a meeting arranged in Islamabad chaired by the Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar. The health ministers and other top officials will also attend emergency meeting.

Single most important stumbling block

Separately, the World Health Organisation director-general told an informal high-level meeting of the UN that Pakistan remains the 'single most important stumbling block along the road to ending polio' in a world that is 80% free of polio.

"Right now, a massive polio outbreak is sweeping across the country. Worldwide, nearly 9 out of every 10 children paralyzed by polio live in Pakistan," WHO D-G Dr Margaret Chan said.

However, Dr Chan pointed out that there were some successes. "Political and local leaders in Peshawar proved last spring that OPV campaigns can be run without a security incident. Local military commanders in Khyber Agency showed that all children could be reached and vaccinated in that area. This past summer, hundreds of thousands of Waziris were vaccinated in transit posts. Pakistan actually showed that despite the challenges, their children can also be reached, through innovations and a sense of common purpose."

These positives though had yet to coordinate and scaled-up into a national eradication effort. "Without that, the risk that Pakistan will seed outbreaks and set back progress elsewhere is great."

Cases confirmed by National Institute of Health on Tuesday

1. Sadia d/o Syed Alam, 46 M female child, area Fort Slope, village Surdand Camp, tehsil Bara. Khyber agency. Zero dose.

2. Abdul Samad s/o Khair Zaman, 9 M male child, area and village Khushali, tehsil Razmak. NWA. Zero dose

3. Muhammad Talha s/o Nisar, 8 M male child, UC Gomal Bazar, village Kot Azam, tehsil Tank.

4. Muhammad Ibrahim s/o Molvi Muhammad Idress, 23 M male child, UC Kharotabad, village Pashtoon Bagh, tehsil Quetta. Zero dose.

5. Hazrat Bilal s/o Khayal Muhammad, 24 M male child, UC-2, Firdous Colony, Liaquatabad town, Karachi.

COMMENTS (1)

Karzai | 9 years ago | Reply

And you want kashmir..!lol..

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