Polio incidence: Quetta among high-risk districts

Three-day anti-polio drive kicks off across Balochistan.

QUETTA:

A three-day anti-polio drive kicked off across Balochistan on Monday during which children below the age of five will be administered anti-polio vaccines. The move comes as Quetta, Pishin and Qila Abdullah were declared high-risk districts for children.

Two more cases of polio were detected in Pishin and Loralai districts on Saturday taking the toll to 37 this year. The campaign will last six days and three-days in the other 27 districts.

“Balochistan is the worst-affected region not only in Pakistan but also across the world because most of the cases reported this year were from this province. This is a matter of grave concern,” said Dr Jawahir Habib, a United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) official.

“The virus is spreading fast in the northern areas of the province.” Another Unicef official, Jawahir Habib, said the virus had been detected in Kalat, Kohlu, Khuzdar, Nushki, Loralai and Dera Bugti this year, adding that no cases were previously reported in these areas.

“Around 1.5 million children below the age of five are at risk of being infected by polio virus in Balochistan,” she added. Officials fear that the incidence of polio cases may rise in the coming months.

Meanwhile, provincial health authorities have warned that action will be taken against parents who do not cooperate during the campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th,  2011.