Poliovirus found in five environs samples

They were taken from five districts of country

ISLAMABAD:

Poliovirus has been found in environmental samples taken from five districts of the country, a spokesperson for the national health services ministry said on Wednesday.

The spokesperson elaborated that the virus was found in two samples of sewage water taken from Quetta, Balochistan.

He added that poliovirus was found in one sample each taken from Karachi’s Malir in Sindh, Peshawar and Tank in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Hub in Balochistan.

The spokesperson said the surveillance system of the country’s polio programme was very capable and the government was ensuring effective measures to bring the crippling disease to an end.

The spokesperson maintained that an integrated strategy had been formulated in high-risk areas of polio transmission.

He urged parents to have their children vaccinated against polio during every immunisation campaign.

Separately, an inter-ministerial meeting agreed on a mechanism to ensure vaccination of all age populations at Afghan repatriation centres and international regular border posts.

This was decided in an inter-ministerial meeting held under the joint chairmanship of the secretaries of the national health services and interior ministries to review the vaccination status of the Afghan migrating population.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of the directives issued by the interim prime minister to ensure vaccination of all eligible populations to minimise the risk of the poliovirus spreading.

The huddle was attended by the health director general, high-ranking officials from the interior ministry, immigrations and passport director general, representatives of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Border Health Services, Federal Directorate of Immunisation, Polio Programme, donor agencies and implementing partner organisations.

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The participants of the meeting were informed by the Polio Programme on the data from the voluntary repatriation centres -- (six in Balochistan, two in K-P and three in Islamabad) -- highlighting that 39 vaccination teams and 14 supervisors had been deployed for this purpose.

The teams have managed to vaccinate 24,335 children since the start of the repatriation process.

In addition to the repatriation centres, permanent transit points (PTPs) at international borders have also vaccinated travellers up to all age groups.

The forum was told that instructions had been issued by the interior ministry to relevant authorities in all provinces and

Gilgit-Baltistan to ensure that the interim prime minister’s directive to facilitate and ensure polio vaccination at the exit crossing points on the borders were complied with.

The leadership of both ministries agreed that the Polio Programme should synchronise their permanent transit points with all international border crossings to ensure that no child was left behind.

NADRA was assigned the task to ensure the registration of all age Afghan populations at voluntary repatriation centres and digitise the information to support polio vaccination.

The officials of the Border Health Services were tasked to support the polio teams deployed at airports and land ports to ensure vaccinations of the eligible population.

The participants of the huddle also highlighted an important aspect -- in addition to international borders -- the inter-provincial movement that was also a risk factor in poliovirus circulation.

They demanded the strengthening of the polio teams deputed at the inter-provincial permanent transit points. The participants of the meeting asked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to share a list of countries where vaccination certificates were required so that the country ensured compliance with the guidelines for international health regulations.

(With input from APP)