Achievable goal: Jan 16 marks one year without polio in Karachi

An anti-polio campaign has been started in the province to eradicate the disease

KARACHI: Yesterday, January 16, marked one year since a polio case was reported in Karachi. That fateful case was also the first case reported in the province in 2016 and eventually proved to be the last one.

“I want to appreciate not only the efforts of the health department but the efforts of the deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners in districts Malir, Korangi and West for carrying out effective anti-polio drives in Karachi,” said Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) coordinator Fayaz Jatoi.

The containment of polio cases is being seen positively not only by the government and international partners but by the entire global community, as Karachi has remained one of the biggest epidemiology blocks in the region, Jatoi told The Express Tribune.

We have interrupted environmental circulation in Karachi through surveillance and what we need to do is to replicate and sustain such efforts in other parts of the province, he explained.

In the initial months of 2016, three cases were reported in northern Sindh, out of which two cases were reported in the same union council in Shikarpur district and one case emerged in Jacobabad. However, in the latter half of the year four cases emerged in the coastal belt of the province, two each in Sujawal and Badin due to low quality of campaigns in these districts, maintained Jatoi. The total polio cases reported were eight in Sindh and 20 in Pakistan.

“It’s a golden opportunity and a solid ground to end virus circulation by carrying-out effective polio eradication campaigns, which is both in Pakistan’s and the world’s interest,” he emphasised.

First campaign of this year

The first polio campaign of 2017 began on Monday. A target of immunising 8.4 million children under the age of five has been set by the provincial health authorities.

Out of the 8.4 million children, 2.2 million children will be vaccinated in all 188 union councils of Karachi and the remaining 6.2 million children will be vaccinated in the rest of Sindh. In Karachi, at least 5,000 police personnel are providing security to more than 12,000 polio workers assigned to immunise the children. The campaign will be held for five days in Karachi and three days in the rest of Sindh.

Work will be closely monitored through the EOC and its partners since there have been drastic improvements in the programme in the last few years, with polio cases reducing from 306 cases in 2014 to 20 cases in 2016, said Jatoi.

He added that we have resolved to eradicate polio and for this we must not only maintain the improvements but also actively work to overcome the challenges.

The polio campaigns will be carried out every month till May, according to the schedule given by the government of Pakistan, said the EOC coordinator.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2017.