LARKANA, June 6: The Director General of Health, Sindh, Dr Qadir Bakhsh Memon, has said that there are 19 confirmed polio cases in Sindh.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, he said Larkana was a ‘reservoir’ of the polio virus, as there were five polio cases in the district alone. He gave the break-up of other districts as follow: Shikarpur (1), Dadu (3) Khairpur, Jacobabad, Thatta, Karachi and Naushahro Feroze each (2).

He lamented that unawareness and non-cooperation of parents enabled the polio virus to travel in Larkana, Mirokhan and Kambar sub-divisions.

He said following the completion of the current campaign the supplementary immunization activity (SIA) would be started.

He said WHO authorities had agreed to undertake four consecutive doses against the disease to eradicate it completely. Bot now, in the light of extensive studies, it had suggested 10 to 12 mandatory doses as most of children in the country suffer from low immunity.

DG health said five polio cases in Larkana were detected after eight doses. They are Parveen, daughter of Basheer, (6 doses-Shahdadkot), Janat, daughter of Abdul Qadir Solangi (8 doses- Warah), Maryam, daughter of Abdul Rasool (5 doses- Kambar), Shahid Mughiri (1 dose-Kambar) and Aftab Umrani (1 dose- Kambar).

He did not agree with the impression that the anti-polio vaccine had lost its efficacy and potency. The executive district officer (health) Dr Abdul Wahab Wadho said those 9 cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), recently detected here, were kept under observation so that it could be verified either they were afflicted with polio or not.

Meanwhile, the DG health Sindh, during his visit to Taluka Hospital Kambar removed the hospital medical superintendent, Dr Rasheed Ahmed Tunio, for inefficiency.