‘Fight against polio a success’
A health worker administers oral polio vaccine to a child at a slum in Karachi. PHOTO: APP/FILE
In a major success against the crippling polio virus, Punjab is all set to complete second year without a polio case. No child has suffered permanent disability since the year 2020, which is a landmark achievement in the province’s fight against polio.
This was stated in a report by the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) which was released on Friday. EOC coordinator and head of the anti-polio programme Khizer Afzaal Chaudhary said the province had been critically focusing “on three very high-risk, mega-districts: Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi”.
Nevertheless, the virus could break free from the loopholes and the schisms of complacency if not eradicated now. Only 3.9 per cent of samples had tested positive this year as compared to five per cent in 2021 and 58 per cent in 2020.
Positive environmental samples from Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Sialkot and Faisalabad were an indicator that there was no room for complacency.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2022.