Polio: Three new cases surface from NWA

Country’s polio count this year already at 43.

PESHAWAR:

With just four months in to the new year, the country’s polio count has already reached 43 with the National Institute of Health Islamabad confirming three new cases on Monday.

Last year, there were only six reported cases in the same time period. The new reported cases are all of the wild poliovirus (type-1) and from North Waziristan Agency (NWA).

Among the cases confirmed on Monday is that of 34-month-old Bushra, daughter of Noor Ali Khan and a resident of Manzar Khel village, Miranshah tehsil of NWA. Bushra had the onset of paralysis on March 20.

The second victim is 12-month-old Ashiqullah, a resident of Bora Khel Sir Kot village in Miranshah. The onset of paralysis for Ashiq started March 14.

The third child diagnosed with the crippling disease is 11-month-old Abuless, son of Allah Dar Khan and resident of Dewagor Saidgai village in Miranshah. He had the onset of paralysis on March 19.

An official of the Fata cell of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation said all cases reported from North and South Waziristan agencies have not received a single dose of the oral polio vaccine.

According to the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell’s data, the number of infected districts and agencies is seven at the moment.

Nearly 97% of the cases reported this year are from the tribal areas and K-P, almost 77% of these are from NWA alone, where a ‘ban’ on immunisation remains imposed by militants since 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2014.