Two more polio cases discovered in Bajaur

Published November 1, 2018
A child being administered the polio vaccination. — File Photo
A child being administered the polio vaccination. — File Photo

Two polio cases have been found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur area, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio in the tribal districts confirmed on Thursday.

They said that laboratory reports of children's stool samples confirmed they had polio, adding that neither child exhibited visible indicators of polio at the time of stool collection.

According to the Health Department, the virus was confirmed in a five-year-old girl from Kut Kot Union Council and a seven-year-old boy from Largatkolay area. The department said that the girl had been administered the anti-polio vaccine seven times.

Babar Bin Atta, the prime minister's focal person for polio eradication, said that they would soon meet with the KP Governor Shah Farman to devise a strategy and take special measures for prevention of the disease.

According to Health Department officials, a three-day immunisation campaign will begin in the tribal districts on Nov 12. The campaign seeks to immunise over 300,000 children.

Five cases of polio have been discovered in KP, according to Health Department officials. Two more polio cases were confirmed in Karachi last month, while three others were reported in Balochistan's Dukki district earlier this year.

According to World Health Organization data, Pakistan is among just three countries in the world that have failed to eradicate endemic transmission of polio.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
Updated 06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

Restored faith in the police is unachievable without political commitment and interprovincial support.
Appointment rules
Updated 06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

If the judiciary had the power to self-regulate, it ought to have exercised it instead of involving the legislature.
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....