KARACHI:The Sindh government on Monday launched this year’s first polio immunisation drive targeting over 10 million children under the age of five across the province.

Reacting to the report declaring two more environmental samples found in Karachi positive for poliovirus, Sindh Health Minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz called for a holistic plan at the federal level to tackle the disabling and life-threatening disease.

“Polio-positive reports coming from any place in the country are extremely unfortunate. I believe that we need to have a comprehensive and integrated strategy at the federal level given the fact that the virus being reported here is directly linked to the variant in Afghanistan,” the health minister said while speaking at the launch of an anti-polio drive organised at the Urban Health Centre in Landhi.

According to him, the province of Sindh had reported two cases of polio last year. The cases were detected in the Gujro Union Council of District East, Karachi.

He regretted that Pakistan was one of the last two remaining countries in the world that’s still reporting polio cases.

“With collective efforts, we can beat this disease. Hence, I appeal to parents and teachers to play their role and cooperate with the polio teams. People can call 1166 if their children are left out during the drive.”

Health dept says poliovirus found in two more environmental samples from Karachi

Sharing details about the current drive, Dr Niaz said the seven-day immunisation drive, part of the National Immunisation Days, was being carried out simultaneously in all the 30 districts.

“A total of 37,000 vaccination teams guarded by over 4,000 personnel of the law enforcement agencies are participating in the campaign,” he said. Sources said the areas with the positive environmental samples in Sindh included Machhar Colony, Liaquatabad, Orangi Nullah, Muhammad Khan Colony (Keamari), Haji Mureed Goth, Khamiso Goth, Gadap, Hyderabad, Latifabad and Sukkur.

“The isolated virus has been classified as YB3A cluster. Initially, it came from Afghanistan, but now it’s being circulating locally,” an official said, describing the situation as worrisome.

“While polio has been endemic in some tribal areas of Pakistan, the current situation is caused by the deteriorating law and order on the Pak-Afghan border. There’s continuous people’s movement from Afghanistan, lacking immunisation initiatives to different parts of Pakistan and causing a resurgence of polio here,” he explained.

Pakistan was almost polio-free prior to that situation, he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Khalid Shafi representing the Pakistan Paediatric Association expressed his satisfaction over government efforts against the disease, urging parents to protect their children against the crippling disease.

Last year, Pakistan reported six polio cases.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024