KARACHI, July 29: Despite regular polio eradication campaigns two cases have been reported in Karachi while Sindh has the highest number of polio cases reported, which is mainly due to reluctance by some portion of population to get their children polio drops administered.
Polio eradication campaigns are extended three more days so that special attention can be paid to administering polio drops to children under the age of five years who are left out in campaign.
Though polio eradication campaign are a regular feature in the country which are at times launched by national leaders but it is quite unfortunate that residents of low income groups and those living in posh localities are reluctant to get their children administered polio drops regularly.
Polio is a communicable disease which usually strikes a child within five years of age, whose virus is spread through fecal-oral communication, which means any child who is host of polio virus can infect other children.
During a visit to Bahadurabad area, Jamshed Town EDO Health had to personally persuade residents of certain apartment blocks to allow the polio drops administering teams to go inside the building.
Gulberg Town has one of the best polio campaigns in terms of success rate in all 18 towns of Karachi.
Nevertheless, due to such type of attitude many children are left without getting polio drops which might result in emergence of polio from any quarter of the country.
Unfortunately one of the two cases reported this year is from New Karachi Town in this year which is also the first case in last couple of years among the permanently settled residents.
While, the other case is from Gadap town among Afghan migrant families.
Pakistan is among the eight countries where polio persists, while among the top three worst hit countries are India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
There were thirty cases of polio reported in Pakistan this year out of which 10 are in Sindh whose district wise breakup is Ghotki- 4 cases, Jacobabad and Karachi two each while Hyderabad and Dadu cases has had one polio cases each.
According to Dr Shaheed Isran of EPI Sindh, since there are no symptoms of polio people usually do not take this serious disease seriously and most of the drops administering teams meet discouraging reply from the parents.
The next campaign will be launched in the first week of September and efforts are being made to administer every child in the province.—PPI
