Polio case reported in Khyber Agency

Recent case takes this year’s count of polio cases to 42 across the country

PESHAWAR: A two-year-old boy in Khyber Agency has tested positive for poliovirus, taking this year’s count of polio cases to 42 across the country. Nine children have been crippled by the virus in the tribal agency alone.

On Tuesday, the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed Abu Sufyan, son of Irfan, from Khoga Khel in Landi Kotal as the latest polio case – the second to be reported from the area in November.

Earlier, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s health minister Shahram Khan Tarakai had directed the district health officers to take result-oriented steps to ensure the eradication of poliovirus from the province by 2016. He said special attention should be paid to the areas where results of polio campaigns have been unsatisfactory.

In a handout issued from the health department, the minster warned the district health officers of stern action if results of anti-polio drives were found unsatisfactory.

He instructed the officers to focus on localities where parents refused to administer polio vaccination to their children and suggested contacting local Ulema and elected government representatives to convince the parents.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2015.