KARACHI, April 8: The nine-month-old child belonging to Karachi who was confirmed as having polio was never vaccinated under the routine immunization programme. And she was administered anti-polio drops five times during the National Immunization Days yet she contracted polio.

The case of Noor Bibi, daughter of Mian Gul, has dealt a tough blow to the hopes of the health authorities who have been entrusted with the task of making the province polio-free by the end of the year. According to a report prepared by an international agency, the baby hails from a Pushto-speaking family and lives in the Lyari riverbed in Gadap Town. Her father is a kiln worker.

In the baby the onset of paralysis was detected first on Feb 22, says the report. The child was admitted to the National Institute of Child Health with fever and decreased muscle tone in the lower limbs three days later. There is no history of her travel to any of the endemic areas. The health facility nearest to where they live is the New Karachi General Hospital, which is some three kilometres away.

Yasrab Goth, the village where Noor Bibi lives, is not covered by any Lady Health Worker (LHW), according to the report. In an effort to contain the ill effects of the polio case, the LHWs in the adjoining areas are being involved for both immunization and community awareness.

The town nazims and councillors are also being motivated to advocate the importance of routine immunization. Historically, the routine coverage in the areas mentioned has generally been less than 5 per cent, which is alarming.

A case of polio has also been confirmed in Nawabshah. Barring this case the city of Nawabshah has been free of polio for the last one year. A "hot case", which remains to be confirmed, has been reported from Jacobabad as well.

Meanwhile, the health officials of Karachi were chastised on Wednesday for their below par performance in the recent National Immunization Days by the health managers of the province.

At a post-campaign meeting, the health secretary told the officials that the coverage in Karachi during the NIDs was unacceptable. It was due to the poor performance in the city that the provincial coverage was far from being good, he added.

It was pointed out to them that according to a survey carried out by Dr Azmoudeh in the Keamari, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Orangi towns, the coverage during the latest NIDs ranged only from 73 to 85 per cent. As a result, the provincial average was dragged down to 93 per cent, which is fair.

The performance of the health officials of Larkana and Sukkur were praised. It was suggested that some incentives might be given to the officials whose performance was better than the others.