KARACHI: Describing country’s polio situation as extremely disturbing that can cause a disaster anytime, health experts have called upon the government to adopt a holistic strategy immediately to protect children from the growing threat of disability and death.

They were sharing their concern over the recent media reports showing a significant surge in environmental circulation of the virus with detection of 18 more positive samples, taking the tally of affected districts across the country to 38.

“A disaster can happen any time. The virus is continuously being shed in the environment that means our children are at a very high polio risk,” said Dr Khalid Shafi of Pakistan Paediatric Association.

According to him, there are no short-cuts to the solution and the situation demanded an effective holistic strategy covering all aspects of the public health crisis.

“This must include focus on hygiene and sanitation, apart from immunisation campaigns and surveillance. Our continued neglect towards the broken, obsolete sewerage system and leaking water lines in affected areas has cost us dearly. We must acknowledge the severity of the situation and act accordingly.”

Dr Shafi also shared that world health bodies and experts were actively pursuing the polio developments and a meeting of the WHO technical advisory committee had been scheduled end of this month to review the situation.

Experts blamed government failure to conduct immunisation drives in the high risk, sensitive areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhaw for the worsening polio situation that now threatens the whole country.

The government could neither ensure effective surveillance nor restrict people’s movement, they said.

“It’s nothing but criminal negligence that has put lives of our children at grave risk,” Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro of Pakistan Medical Association said, adding that unregulated people’s movement from the bordering Afghanistan as well as within the country from high risk areas to other parts of the country was the major factor leading to the public health crisis.

The association, he emphasized, called for measures to secure the borders to prevent the entry of the poliovirus from neighboring countries where the virus was still endemic. “Strengthening border controls and ensuring that all travelers are vaccinated against polio are crucial steps to protect the health and well-being of the population.”

Dr Shoro regretted that immunisation campaigns in cities were marred by high refusal rates.

“Community awareness campaigns are crucial. This could be effective if we are able to dispel misconceptions and take community leaders on board,” he said, adding that increased surveillance and collaboration between healthcare providers and authorities were essential part of the strategy.

According to experts, only one out of 200 polio infections turn serious and lead to irreversible paralysis while the rest of patients with the infection either don’t have any visible symptoms or get recovered after experiencing flu-like illness.

The detection of a single polio case, they explain, means that there would be 200 cases of infection, posing threat to the whole community. Among those children who get paralysed, five to 10 die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.

The total population of missed children in Sindh stands around 5,000.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2024