Cairo scare: Vaccination counters at airports ordered
The importation of the polio virus type-1 to Egypt came from Sukkur district.
The importation of the polio virus type-1 to Egypt came from Sukkur district.
A press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat on Tuesday called for polio vaccination counters to be established inside all international departure lounges on an urgent basis, making it mandatory for all children up to age 5 leaving Pakistan to be vaccinated against the virus.
The release came following the office of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Pakistan reporting that the importation of the polio virus type-1 to Egypt came from Sukkur district, Sindh.
It was isolated in sewage water samples collected from two different sites in Cairo. The release said that vaccination posts were already working at 22 crossing points on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and the Sost border with China to stop the transmission of the virus to neighbouring countries.
It said that the importation of the virus from Pakistan to another country was a serious development which had caused alarm amongst the global health community. The release also warned that the development was likely to result in international health regulations being invoked-which can have implications for Pakistanis travelling abroad.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2013.