PESHAWAR: 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.
With 202 cases, Pakistan breaks 14-year-old record – The Express Tribune
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.
With 202 cases, Pakistan breaks 14-year-old record – The Express Tribune
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