ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is said to be deeply concerned by the unresolved challenge of eradicating polio in three zones in Pakistan, namely Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Quetta and parts of Karachi.

An official of the health body told Dawn on Wednesday that in a recent visit to Pakistan, WHO regional director Dr Ala Alwan put special emphasis on reaching and vaccinating high-risk and highly mobile groups.

“Pakistan has turned the corner through its Emergency Action Plan,” the official quoted Dr Alwan to have said, and added, “nevertheless, the deteriorating security situation in Karachi, impaired access in Bara in Khyber Agency and the recent ban in North and South Waziristan agencies constitute a substantial risk to all the efforts.”

The WHO official said the common denominator linking the main transmission zones were communities which were under-served by health services; for instance, 73 per cent of polio cases this year are from Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Alwan is said to have stressed that polio cannot be eradicated till children in Khyber Agency, particularly Bara, who have been inaccessible to the programme since 2009 are reached and vaccinated.

Furthermore, the ban in North and South Waziristan agencies has put more than 200,000 children risk of polio. If the issue is not addressed in time, the ban would jeopardise the efforts of the government of Pakistan and partner organisations.

Regarding the government drive for containing the spread of the polio virus, Dr Alwan noted that although remarkable efforts made by the provincial administrative leadership have resulted in recent gains, ongoing managerial weaknesses, particularly in Pishin, endanger the gains.

The official remarked that WHO’s top official has also conveyed to the government that they were encouraged by the growing interest among countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to support polio eradication activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan through the Islamic Development Bank.

Dr Alwan is said to have appreciated the statements of commitment by premier and president of Pakistan regarding provision of adequate security to all polio workers across the country.

It is pertinent to mention that recent statistics compared to 2011 have shown that there has been a decrease of 65 per cent in the number of cases reported in Pakistan. Around the same time in 2011, Pakistan had confirmed 71 cases while in 2012 there have been 27 cases so far. Nigeria with 57 reported cases has replaced Pakistan as the country with the highest number of polio cases so far this year.