Tag: Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme

  • Anti-polio campaign to start in Sindh from October 24

    Anti-polio campaign to start in Sindh from October 24

    Anti-polio campaign in Sindh will be carried out from October 24 to 30, it has been announced. Around 6.5 million children would be administered the polio vaccination.
    The anti-polio drive will be carried out with special focus on flood-affected areas.

    Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput chaired a meeting on the upcoming anti-polio campaign on Friday.
    The meeting was informed that despite widespread campaigns, environmental samples of polio genetic clusters have been discovered.

    Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said that the biggest challenge at the moment, in the wake of floods, is to reach every single child and vaccinate against polio.

    She continued by saying that a thorough plan is required to address both the places hit by the storm and those where water is still standing. Vaccinators might be sent there on boats to administer the drops to children.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

  • Polio virus detected in Lahore, three other cities

    Polio virus detected in Lahore, three other cities

    Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory in Islamabad has found Type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) in environmental samples collected from different cities. The presence of the virus was confirmed in samples collected from Bannu, Peshawar and Swat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Lahore in Punjab.

    Talking about it, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said, “This is the seventh positive environmental sample from Bannu, third from Peshawar and Lahore each, and second from Swat this year.”

    Earlier in August, Pakistan’s federal authorities confirmed the presence of the poliovirus in seven cities after samples were collected from various cities in the country.
    Lahore and Islamabad were declared polio-free in April 2021.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

    However, polio has been rearing its head up in countries where the virus was eradicated decades ago. In June, a 20-year-old man in New York was afflicted with the virus, resulting in paralysis. The strain that affected him was the kind that is found in vaccines, and then behaves like a wild version of the virus. The man had not been vaccinated against the disease, however, more worryingly, he had not traveled internationally.

    The same strain of the virus has been detected in sewer samples in Jerusalem. Israel has recorded its first polio case in 30 years. The United Kingdom too has found the same strain in London.

    Polio is a potentially fatal disease that can cause paralysis if it spreads to the spinal cord. One in 10 polio fever afflicted patients die. The disease is more severe in children than it is in adults.

  • Farhan Saeed lauds polio workers

    Farhan Saeed lauds polio workers

    Farhan Saeed has lauded polio workers for their dedication and hard work.

    Sharing a video of female polio workers walking in blankets of snow to deliver the vaccine to the children of Azad Kashmir, Saeed said: “All heroes don’t wear capes, some wear yellow vest[s].”

    Agreeing with the Suno Chanda star, his followers couldn’t stop praising the efforts of these women.

    Read more – Farhan Saeed, Urwa Hocane lash out at opposition for holding jalsas amid a pandemic

    Pakistan’s first polio vaccination campaign for 2021 started on Monday, January 11. The national polio immunization drive will last for five days and aims to vaccinate over 40 million children under the age of five across Pakistan.

  • Only two countries have Polio cases: Pakistan is one of them

    Only two countries have Polio cases: Pakistan is one of them

    World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24th every year, and this year’s theme is “A win against polio is a win for global health” acknowledging the fact the humanity is very close to achieving the goal of having a polio-free world, after 30 years of global hard work. Only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan – remain affected by the polio epidemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

    World Polio Day was established by Rotary international to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to make a vaccine against poliomyelitis. Polio is a potentially deadly infectious disease. The best approach to eradicate polio is based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until the transmission of this disease stops and the world is polio-free.

    Africa declared free from Polio

    As per details, WHO has declared Africa free of the deadly polio virus after decades of documentation and immunization efforts to eradicate this viral disease worldwide.

     “Today is a historic day for Africa” said Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke, ARCC Chairperson “The African Regional Certification Commission for Polio eradication (ARCC) is pleased to announce that the Region has successfully met the certification criteria for wild polio eradication, with no cases of the wild poliovirus reported in the Region for four years,”

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also appreciated the efforts of Africa on eradication of Polio. He tweeted “Big day for my African brothers & sisters – our continent will be declared #polio-free. This is one of the greatest public health achievements, demonstrating that with science & solidarity we can beat viruses & save lives.”

    How was Polio eradicated in Africa?

    In 1996, South African Prime Minister Nelson Mandela partnered with Rotary, an international non-profit organization to launch “Kick Polio out of Africa” Campaign. The first synchronized campaigns began in 17 countries, with 76 million children being vaccinated by tens of thousands of volunteers, and the work fanned out across the continent from there. Between 2008 to 2010, 85 million children were vaccinated in 24 countries in western and central Africa.

    Will Pakistan ever be Polio-free?

    Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the last two countries across the globe, where polio remains endemic and as long as it exists anywhere, it will remain a threat everywhere.

    Today, as the world commemorates World Polio Day, Pakistan reaffirms its commitment to eradicating polio and making the country polio-free. Taking to the twitter, Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar ensures that the government is fully committed towards eliminating polio from the country.

    Pakistan lowered its wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases from 146 in 2019 to 69 cases this year, as stated in a report by Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme further confirmed that approximately 39 million children had been vaccinated against poliomyelitis during a nationwide immunization campaign in September.

    Commenting on the country’s effort towards polio elimination, Dr Rana Muhammed Safdar Faisal Sultan, the Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, appreciates the workforce engaged in achieving the goal of polio-free Pakistan.

    There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented through immunization. The sub-national campaign by Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme will resume in the country by the end of this month.