Health alert: Two more cases of polio emerge in FATA

The authorities confirmed that an 18-month-old boy, Amjad, from South Waziristan and a one-year-old boy, Zahir, from Khyber Agency have fallen victims to poliovirus.

Despite government’s claims of taking steps to eradicate the disease, such as introducing the National Emergency Action Plan 2011, the number of polio cases is increasing at an alarming rate in the country.

As of August 31 this year, 77 cases of polio were reported in Pakistan, compared to 43 in the country during the same period in 2010. Pakistan is categorised as one of the four countries in the world which have failed to eradicate polio.


Pakistan has the highest number of people suffering from polio, while other countries fighting the virus have shown a marked improvement, with Afghanistan reporting 18 cases, Nigeria 26 and one in India as of August 31, 2011.

Balochistan, which has the highest number of cases in the country, has shown a 50 per cent rise in cases since last year, while Quetta, Qila Abdullah and Pishin districts have been declared high-risk zones for the virus.

According to reports, 28 cases of polio were detected from these districts this year, compared to 26 from the entire province last year.

According to officials at United Nations Children’s Fund, around 1.5 million children below the age of five are at risk of being infected by polio in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, health authorities are looking at new strategies to eradicate the crippling disease, such as by enhancing payment for health workers and taking action against those instigating others not to take part in immunisation campaigns. In addition to that, several measures are being taken for proper storage of the vaccines to ensure that they are not rendered ineffective. With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2011.