Down with the virus: Experts divided on whether Karachi gives polio to the world
Ziauddin University holds interactive seminar.
KARACHI:
Karachi has become the focal point from where the Wild Poliovirus (WPV) is exported to the entire country and the rest of the world, said World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Polio Eradication team leader for Sindh Dr Salah Mohamed Tumsah on Thursday.
He was speaking at an interactive seminar, titled ‘Polio-Free Pakistan - A Dream’, organised by Ziauddin University in Clifton. “Eradicating polio in Karachi will not only remove the threat from Pakistan but also the world,” Dr Tumsah said. He said three union councils of Gadap Town have been termed high-risk areas. “There is a lot of inward migration and new people move in to these places every day,” he said. The WHO representative said that the situation in interior Sindh was better than in Karachi.
“There are 13 high-risk areas in eight union councils that have at least 102,560 children under the age of five that needed to be vaccinated,” he said. “All polio cases reported from Karachi in 2014 were restricted to 11 of the 188 union councils in the city within a 24km-radius.”
An official of the Extended Programme on Immunisation (EPI) requesting anonymity told The Express Tribune that making Karachi polio-free would not necessarily remove the threat entirely. He disagreed with Dr Tumsah’s opinion that Karachi was the source of the polio epidemic in the country. “Inward migration is one of the reasons Karachi has such a high incidence rate, the virus enters here from Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”
With two new cases, one from Gadap and the other from Dadu, reported on Wednesday evening, Sindh now has 21 polio cases reported in 2014 so far - 19 of them from Karachi.
EPI deputy project director for Sindh Durre Naz Jamal said that though security issues remained the biggest reason behind low vaccination coverage, lack of awareness has also hindered their efforts. “We need to reach the parents before we try to vaccinate their children,” Dr Jamal said, adding that raising awareness could make a big difference.
Speakers at the seminar said that Pakistan was defamed every time a new polio case was reported. “It is a colossal tragedy that Pakistan has failed to eradicate polio,” said Ziauddin University vice-chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui. “We can eradicate the virus, if we make serious efforts.”
Prof Siddiqui said there should be a survey to identify children who needed to be vaccinated at the earliest. “It could help us identify populations that are most at risk.” Lack of awareness and education was another reason, he said. “I believe education is the key,” he said.
Mansoor Ahmed Bhalli of the Rotary International blamed polio on a lack of concerted efforts to eradicate the virus. “This is a national emergency. We need to treat it like one,” he said.
Ziauddin Hospital’s paediatrician Dr Zain Yousuf Ally said there was no cure for the disease. “It can only be prevented,” he said. “Taking care of a handicapped child is very difficult.” Dr Ally said 83 per cent of the polio cases reported around the world in 2014 were from Pakistan. “Where other countries have successfully eradicated the disease, more and more of our children are falling prey to it.”
“India eradicated the virus two years ago,” Dr Khawar Mehdi, the director of medical affairs at Getz Pharma, said. “The government refuses to acknowledge that the biggest reason behind new polio cases is the lack of vaccination coverage. We don’t want a country with handicapped children but a disease free and prosperous Pakistan.”
We can no longer hide polio, said Dr Kamran Hameed, dean of the College of Medicine at Ziauddin University.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2014.
Karachi has become the focal point from where the Wild Poliovirus (WPV) is exported to the entire country and the rest of the world, said World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Polio Eradication team leader for Sindh Dr Salah Mohamed Tumsah on Thursday.
He was speaking at an interactive seminar, titled ‘Polio-Free Pakistan - A Dream’, organised by Ziauddin University in Clifton. “Eradicating polio in Karachi will not only remove the threat from Pakistan but also the world,” Dr Tumsah said. He said three union councils of Gadap Town have been termed high-risk areas. “There is a lot of inward migration and new people move in to these places every day,” he said. The WHO representative said that the situation in interior Sindh was better than in Karachi.
“There are 13 high-risk areas in eight union councils that have at least 102,560 children under the age of five that needed to be vaccinated,” he said. “All polio cases reported from Karachi in 2014 were restricted to 11 of the 188 union councils in the city within a 24km-radius.”
An official of the Extended Programme on Immunisation (EPI) requesting anonymity told The Express Tribune that making Karachi polio-free would not necessarily remove the threat entirely. He disagreed with Dr Tumsah’s opinion that Karachi was the source of the polio epidemic in the country. “Inward migration is one of the reasons Karachi has such a high incidence rate, the virus enters here from Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”
With two new cases, one from Gadap and the other from Dadu, reported on Wednesday evening, Sindh now has 21 polio cases reported in 2014 so far - 19 of them from Karachi.
EPI deputy project director for Sindh Durre Naz Jamal said that though security issues remained the biggest reason behind low vaccination coverage, lack of awareness has also hindered their efforts. “We need to reach the parents before we try to vaccinate their children,” Dr Jamal said, adding that raising awareness could make a big difference.
Speakers at the seminar said that Pakistan was defamed every time a new polio case was reported. “It is a colossal tragedy that Pakistan has failed to eradicate polio,” said Ziauddin University vice-chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui. “We can eradicate the virus, if we make serious efforts.”
Prof Siddiqui said there should be a survey to identify children who needed to be vaccinated at the earliest. “It could help us identify populations that are most at risk.” Lack of awareness and education was another reason, he said. “I believe education is the key,” he said.
Mansoor Ahmed Bhalli of the Rotary International blamed polio on a lack of concerted efforts to eradicate the virus. “This is a national emergency. We need to treat it like one,” he said.
Ziauddin Hospital’s paediatrician Dr Zain Yousuf Ally said there was no cure for the disease. “It can only be prevented,” he said. “Taking care of a handicapped child is very difficult.” Dr Ally said 83 per cent of the polio cases reported around the world in 2014 were from Pakistan. “Where other countries have successfully eradicated the disease, more and more of our children are falling prey to it.”
“India eradicated the virus two years ago,” Dr Khawar Mehdi, the director of medical affairs at Getz Pharma, said. “The government refuses to acknowledge that the biggest reason behind new polio cases is the lack of vaccination coverage. We don’t want a country with handicapped children but a disease free and prosperous Pakistan.”
We can no longer hide polio, said Dr Kamran Hameed, dean of the College of Medicine at Ziauddin University.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2014.