Only 24 cases of polio detected this year: Minister - WHO to provide $1.5m grant
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Pakistan is on the verge of polio eradication, and only 24 cases of the crippling disease have been identified this year so far, which are over 50 per cent less than those reported during the corresponding period last year.
This was stated by the Federal Health Minister Mohammed Nasir Khan while speaking at an inter-provincial "Polio Review Meeting", convened by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the WHO.
The meeting was arranged on the arrival of Dr Hussain Al Gezairy, WHO regional director, Eastern Mediterranean Region. Dr Gezairy, speaking on the occasion, expressed his satisfaction over the quality of the polio vaccine being administered to children in Pakistan. He said the WHO would release within the current calendar a pending grant of $1.5 million to help anti-polio efforts of the government of Pakistan.
He said at the international level, polio was on its way out. He reminded the audience that not very long ago, the world had 350,000 cases of polio, with 1,000 children crippled by the diseases every day. Pakistan had 25 per cent of all cases of polio occurring around the world.
Mr Gezairy said looking at the few cases today, "we could say that Pakistan has achieved great success, but the battle is yet to be won". He appreciated the success achieved in this regard by the government of Balochistan.
Earlier, the health minister said after years of hard work and commitment "we have reached the threshold of polio eradication". The meeting reviewed progress made so far by the government in collaboration with the international donor agencies to wipe out polio from the country.
A senior health ministry official said after reaching zero transmission of polio virus, Pakistan would be put under close monitoring for next three years. "If no polio case is reported in those three years, the country will be declared as polio-free," he said.
It was also disclosed during the meeting that in the current calendar year, not even a single polio case was reported in Balochistan, whereas five polio cases were reported in Punjab, 12 in Sindh and seven in the NWFP.
The health minister reiterated the government's commitment to providing polio-free life to every child. He said anti-polio vaccine being administered to the children was imported by Unicef, and that it was of the highest quality. The vaccine is in accordance with the WHO/Unicef quality standards.
He said the efficacy of the vaccine could be ascertained by the fact that only 24 cases had been reported in the country this year. "It is imperative to root out the disease by 2005," he said, requesting the people not to pay heed to rumours regarding vaccine quality.
He cited a specific case in Sarghoda where a couple did not get their son vaccinated against polio due to rumours regarding vaccine's efficacy. Resultantly, the child got polio and was crippled for life. The minister appealed to parents to ensure that every child under five years of age was vaccinated during every round of the immunizations campaign.
