Polio update: Two more cases surface in K-P, FATA
Total number of cases in Pakistan rises to 191.
PESHAWAR:
Two more polio cases have been reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), pushing the toll in Pakistan to 191 cases as of January 5.
According to a Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell report, one case each was reported in K-P and Fata last December.
In Khyber Agency, one-and-a-half-year old Anwar, who belongs to Sama Gari village in Bara, felt the first signs of paralysis on December 23.
According to his parents, Anwar could not receive any oral polio vaccine dose in supplementary immunisation or vaccination campaigns, as the area is inaccessible due to security reasons since September 2009.
It is for this reason that 22 cases were reported from Khyber Agency alone last year. According to the report, 14 cases appeared in Bara and four each in Tirah and Landi Kotal. This, however, is the seventh polio case from Milaward in Sama Gari village.
The claim is verified by the report, according to which over 40 per cent of the children remained inaccessible in the agency for most of 2011, except July.
Similarly, in Tank district, 23-month-old Muhammad Talha from Gul Imam, suffered paralysis on December 18. The report says the boy’s family refused to have him vaccinated on religious grounds and he only received polio drops twice as an infant.
This is the third polio case reported from Tank, the report added.
Of the total cases confirmed in Pakistan up till January 5, 72 cases were reported from Balochistan, 56 from Fata, 32 from Sindh, 22 from K-P, eight from Punjab and one from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan is currently among four countries where the endemic is prevalent and ranks first with the highest number of cases in the world. It has also been reported that the country will face travel restrictions if it is unable to eradicate the disease by the end of this year.
In November 2011, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani appointed Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali as the focal person for coordination and monitoring of polio eradication in Pakistan.
The government is planning to completely eradicate the crippling disease from the country this year. However, with a host of new cases emerging in K-P and Fata, polio eradication seems to be a far-fetched goal.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2012.
Two more polio cases have been reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), pushing the toll in Pakistan to 191 cases as of January 5.
According to a Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell report, one case each was reported in K-P and Fata last December.
In Khyber Agency, one-and-a-half-year old Anwar, who belongs to Sama Gari village in Bara, felt the first signs of paralysis on December 23.
According to his parents, Anwar could not receive any oral polio vaccine dose in supplementary immunisation or vaccination campaigns, as the area is inaccessible due to security reasons since September 2009.
It is for this reason that 22 cases were reported from Khyber Agency alone last year. According to the report, 14 cases appeared in Bara and four each in Tirah and Landi Kotal. This, however, is the seventh polio case from Milaward in Sama Gari village.
The claim is verified by the report, according to which over 40 per cent of the children remained inaccessible in the agency for most of 2011, except July.
Similarly, in Tank district, 23-month-old Muhammad Talha from Gul Imam, suffered paralysis on December 18. The report says the boy’s family refused to have him vaccinated on religious grounds and he only received polio drops twice as an infant.
This is the third polio case reported from Tank, the report added.
Of the total cases confirmed in Pakistan up till January 5, 72 cases were reported from Balochistan, 56 from Fata, 32 from Sindh, 22 from K-P, eight from Punjab and one from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan is currently among four countries where the endemic is prevalent and ranks first with the highest number of cases in the world. It has also been reported that the country will face travel restrictions if it is unable to eradicate the disease by the end of this year.
In November 2011, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani appointed Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali as the focal person for coordination and monitoring of polio eradication in Pakistan.
The government is planning to completely eradicate the crippling disease from the country this year. However, with a host of new cases emerging in K-P and Fata, polio eradication seems to be a far-fetched goal.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2012.