Polio continues to cripple NWA with two more cases

According to official at CM’s Polio Monitoring Cell, 23-month-old Somiya is 7th to be infected with polio this year.

PESHAWAR:

Poliovirus has been confirmed in two more children from North Waziristan Agency (NWA), The Express Tribune learnt on Monday.

According to an official at the Chief Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell, 23-month-old Somiya is the seventh to be infected with polio this year. Somiya, daughter of Attaullah, is a resident of Kati Katlain village of Miranshah tehsil of the agency.

On Jan 28, another 23-month-old was diagnosed with polio. Khateer, son of Said Manullah, is a resident of Mat Khel, Mirali tehsil.

Just like all other children infected in the area, Somiya has also not received a single dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) due to a ‘ban’ imposed on polio vaccinations in the agency by the Taliban. A few samples from last year are still under process in the laboratory, the monitoring cell official confirmed.

No supplementary immunisation activities have been conducted in North and South Waziristan agencies since June 2012, leading to the explosive polio outbreak. NWA alone reported 35 polio cases in 2013 and children there continue to be infected in 2014.

Experts believe an anticipated population displacement as a result of military operations in NWA will enhance the risk of poliovirus spreading to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the regions beyond. Health officials suggest immunisation activities should be carried out in Bannu and DI Khan as several families from the tribal areas have migrated to these districts.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Monday, Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai appreciated the efforts of volunteer workers towards the eradication of polio and said their sacrifices will not be in vain. He added family members of slain polio workers were provided jobs, according to their qualifications, in the health department.

Sehat ka Insaf

On the second day of the Sehat ka Insaf campaign, three medical camps were established in Malakander, Larama and Surizai Payan in Peshawar.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Peshawar District General Secretary Younas Zaheer told The Express Tribune 873 children were examined at the Malakander camp, 554 in Larama camp and 650 in Surizai Payan camp.

He added two senior doctors and some nurses were on duty at each health camp to examine children and provide free medicine if needed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2014.