The hammer drops

It is possible that individual states will pre-empt any travel directive from the WHO and impose restrictions as well.

It was only a matter of time before a polio-free nation imposed travel restrictions on Pakistani citizens, and India has now issued a statement that all visitors from Pakistan after January 30, 2014 will be required to prove that they have evidence of polio vaccination. That evidence must be in the form of a WHO approved Certificate of Vaccination that is valid for a minimum of six weeks before the proposed travel date. The certificate must be obtained from an authorised medical centre and travelers will be required to carry the document at all times.

Whilst it would have been at the very least polite for India to give the Pakistan health authorities reasonable notice as to what it planned, it is difficult to deny the very real necessity of the ban. India has been polio free since 2009, whilst in this year alone, Pakistan has seen a 30 per cent rise in polio cases and there are more cases being reported almost daily. Karachi, according to WHO officials, may be on the verge of a major polio outbreak. India, along with many other countries in the world, views Pakistani travellers with both concern and suspicion, and not because of them being suspected terrorists or engaged in espionage, but because of something potentially far more damaging. The polio virus that was behind outbreaks in Egypt and Syria has been tracked back to Pakistan. The Indian High Commission was at pains to point out that the restrictions applied to all countries where polio was endemic and Pakistan had not been singled out for ‘special treatment’. There is to be a meeting of the WHO regional board at the end of January 2014 and polio is on the agenda. It now remains to be seen whether other polio-free countries, particularly those that receive large numbers of visitors from Pakistan, will react in a manner similar to India. It is entirely possible that individual states, viewing the deteriorating situation here, will pre-empt any travel directive from the WHO and impose restrictions as well. Nobody can say we were not warned.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2013.

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