KARACHI:
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease, which is caused by the poliovirus. It affects children under the age of five years and can infect a person’s spinal cord causing paralysis or resulting in death in more severe cases. The dangerous virus was eradicated from the world long ago. But Pakistan’s dream to eradicate this viral disease remains unfulfilled. Last year, Unicef’s regional director said that polio will end by 2023, but it appears unlikely with the growing number of cases across the country.
According to reports, many cases of polio have been registered in Punjab in January 2023. In Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Ravi, samples of Type-1 wild poliovirus were detected in the sewage. This crippling disease has already affected many Pakistani children. Some have lost their lives and others developed lifelong disabilities. Government efforts to vaccinate children have been hampered by parents’ refusal to vaccinate children. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as many as 91,000 children missed polio drops during the seven-day anti-polio vaccination drive that started on January 16 in the province.
The healthcare department needs to rebuild trust among the people and inform them of the harmful effects of the disease. Provincial healthcare departments should work with local communities to improve outreach and encourage people to vaccinate their children. Frequent immunisation protects children from this disease. Therefore, the government should continue vaccine campaigns as it is the only way to minimise the spread of the disease. Polio workers should be protected and assisted by local police to prevent attacks on them.
Ainee Munir
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2023.
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