Health officials confirmed eight more polio cases on Friday, pushing the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year past the 200-mark and breaking the country’s 14-year-old record.
In 2000, Pakistan had reported 199 confirmed polio cases. With the new confirmations, the number of polio cases reported this year now stands at 202.
The majority of cases confirmed on Friday were from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). One case each was reported from Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera and Tank. According to officials, the parents of the children diagnosed with the crippling virus in Nowshera and Tank on Friday had refused polio vaccinations.
Two cases were confirmed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), one each in North and South Waziristan.
The remaining two cases were reported from Karachi and Quetta. Officials said the infant diagnosed with polio in Quetta contracted the illness despite receiving more than seven doses of the polio vaccine.
While confirming that Pakistan had crossed its 14-year-old record of 199 cases, the focal person of the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell Ayesha Raza told The Express Tribune that 86% of this year’s polio cases have been reported from the security-compromised areas of Fata and K-P.
Out of the 202 poliovirus cases confirmed in 2014, 135 have been reported from Fata, 40 from K-P, 19 from Sindh, six in Balochistan and two in Punjab.
Raza’s statement was echoed by Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Sarah Afzal Tarar.
“The rising number of polio cases is a cause for concern, but they were expected as the majority of them are being confirmed in areas where immunisation drives have not been carried out since 2012,” she said while speaking to Express News on Friday. “The poliovirus is largely being circulated in security-comprised areas.”
Tarar requested the Fata administration and the K-P government to make their vaccination campaigns as effective as possible. She urged them to concentrate their efforts on high-risk areas and provide vaccination teams with adequate security.
“Out of the 5,500 union councils (UC), over 400 of them are classified as high-risk,” she said.
Tarrar added that it was unfortunate that Pakistan was the only country where people were against immunisation. “We asked the provincial government to take extra measures during campaigns, impose a curfew, ban pillion riding, etc. It’s something we have to do.”
She said it was up to the provincial governments to implement immunisation programmes and the federal government could only provide them with funds and vaccines.
Meanwhile, Ayesha Raza said that thousands of children displaced from North Waziristan who were currently living in the southern districts of K-P have been vaccinated against polio.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2014.
COMMENTS (19)
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lets target triple century by end of current month. Pakistan I cheer for you, Go, Go, Go.
@Watchman: Go on, we are waiting to find out the real reason since you say they are not due to "drone attacks and militancy"
It is not 202 cases. It is 202 cases, and growing! Actually, 202 cases, and growing, and only those reported.
In Pakistan the health and education issues have been severely worsened because in Pakistan on health and education just nominal (few percent) budget is spent and on corruption and useless things trillions of Rupees are wasted......
@Sal: If you are referring to Shakeel Afridi -you are wrong. His unauthorized vacination campaign was for hepatitis and t polio. You actualy give a hepatitis vaccination through n injection whereas polio vaccination is done orally through drops - so the 2 are difficut o confuse with each other. Nor is it the case that people are rejecting all other vaccinations because of the Afridi case. Why is the opposition to polio cases so strong that polio workers and even those who provide security to these workers are often shot dad? It is because of the mistaken belief that polio drips are a conspiracy to reduce fertility of Muslms. This impression was spread deliberately by manny mullahs and nt just in Pakistan but also Nigeria, India and Afghanistan and in early part of last decade when polio was nearly wiped out, there was a minor resurgence in these 4 countries with a large Muslim population. India aggressively involved Muslim religious leaders to reassure people that this was not the case. It also recruited many Muslim lady health workers i the polio program and their presence provided added assurance to the families.
In any case the last case of polio in India was in January 2011. If Pakistan had also eliminated polio by that time, Afridi's actions wold have been irrelevant , would they not?
@dhokla phapdaa: Human misery is not a cause for gloating.
@Ch Allah Daad It's a crying shame that you are bringing petty politics into an article about polio that is a threat for the entire nation. By the way, most cases are from FATA which falls directly under Nawaz's (federal govt's ) control. Next time you might wanna consult a mirror before slinging mud.
thanks to the free polio drops provided, it all started after that.
its win for radical group.
Children of KPK are suffering, and prince IK is busy spreading anarchy. Shame on you for your ego, and lust for power. The pursuit of Naya Pakistan is nothing but a means to satisfy your boredom and lack of anything interesting happening in your life. Stop fooling innocent people.
Already made double century.Waiting for triple century.good going
@Ch. Allah Daad: Actually, most of the cases are from FATA and refugees from FATA in KPK. This just shows how miserably N League has failed. If you want to troll at least try harder next time.
congrats Pakistan. Do you know what causes polio? Open dedication and infection borne out of it. Who guessed India eliminated Polio?
It is sad but the truth is KPK has become the biggest exporter of terrorism and now biological weapons. The KPK govt has jurisdiction on healthcare not the federal govt but they are all busy for power grab and no attention on their own province. People to people contact must be stopped and KPK should be declared a no go area.
Why media is so shy not printing the root cause of Polio spreading in Pakistan. Just beating around the bush, blaming drone attacks and militancy. If I write the root cause ,you will not print my letter because it is sensitive matter. Result is than face the consequences and result declared a pariah state.
Thanks to Imran's Naya Pakistan.
Well done PTI and PML-N. Federal govt has given up on FATA while PTI busy in PR, re-branding EPI program as 'Sehat ka Insaf'.
Number of polio cases in KPK are now almost times they were last year. Number of cases in Peshawar are more than they were last year. Promoting fake 'WHO declares Peshawar polio free' news doesn't cure polio. Actions do.
Number of polio cases in Punjab have reduced from 7 to 2, the only area in the country where number of cases fell. Well done EPI Punjab and Punjab Government.
BReaks one's heart.