ISLAMABAD: A polio case was confirmed on the first day of New Year on Thursday, taking the tally reported over the past 11 months to 296.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Health, the new patient is Mohammad Shafi, an infant belonging to Chagai district in Balochistan.

Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio and MNA, Ayesha Raza Farooq, while talking to Dawn hoped the trend would soon witness a positive change as a well-coordinated action was under way. She said all stakeholders were attending the Emergency Operation Centre on Polio for maximum coordination to check spread of the crippling disease.

“Effective coordination among health department and UN agencies will help address the issue,” she said.

Our Staff Correspondent in Quetta adds: The new case has been detected in a border village close to the Pak-Afghan border in Chagai district. With the detection of the fresh case the total number of polio victims in the province reached 23.

“In the year 2014, twenty-three cases were reported in six districts of Balochis­tan,” said Mr Babar, an official of the World Health Organisation in Islamabad.

Balochistan Health Minister Rehmat Saleh Baloch asked the Director General, Health, to submit a report about polio cases in Chagai.

The minister said he had directed the authorities concerned to ensure an effective polio eradication campaign so that no new case was reported from across the province. “No negligence will be tolerated in making the anti-polio campaign successful,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2015

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.