ISLAMABAD: As Bill Gates joined Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other top officials via video link in a meeting to review the situation of poliovirus on Friday, Pakistan recorded another case of the crippling disease, taking this year’s tally to 14.

The latest victim is a 20-month-old female child from Qila Saifullah in Balochistan, the province that accounts for 11 cases reported this year.

In Karachi, the meeting chaired by the prime minister took stock of the progress and challenges in the ongoing polio eradication efforts.

Mr Gates, the chairman of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Chris Elias, the charity’s head of Polio Oversight Board, virtually joined the meeting.

20-month-old child crippled in Qila Saifullah; PM, Bill Gates attend huddle in Karachi to review eradication efforts

The PM’s Coordinator on Health Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, PM’s Focal Person Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Sindh governor and the chief minister, chief secretaries, police chiefs, polio programme officials and senior representatives of partner agencies, including WHO, Unicef, CDC, BMGF and Rotary Foundation, also attended the meeting.

According to a statement, the PM expressed his concerns about the increasing number of cases and said a renewed vigour was needed to eradicate the poliovirus.

“We cannot leave our children at the mercy of the crippling poliovirus, so the surge must be addressed across the country on war footing”, said PM Shehbaz.

He also thanked Mr Gates for his continued support for polio eradication across the globe and lauded his unwavering commitment to the cause.

In his remarks, the philanthropist acknowledged the Pakistan government’s “ownership” of the polio eradication efforts and commended the new leadership of the virus eradication programme for accepting the challenge during a time of crisis.

He said some challenges remained in a few areas, but acknowledged that vaccination teams tried to reach every child during the polio campaign conducted last month.

“Sustaining this hard work over the next few months can help in halting poliovirus transmission in the country,” he stated.

Ayesha Raza Farooq, the PM’s focal person on polio, gave a detailed briefing on the current virus situation in the country, highlighting key challenges and gaps over the last couple of years.

“The outbreak is largely driven by the intense circulation in traditional core reservoirs of Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar,” Ms Farooq said, adding the virus has so far affected 14 children this year, while its traces have been found in over 50 districts across all four provinces and AJK.

Ms Farooq said the next four months were crucial for reversing the tide by conducting three high-quality vaccination rounds by December.

These efforts will be supported by the strategic use of complementary activities through integrated service delivery in areas where the virus has been prevalent.

Following the national overview, all provincial chief secretaries updated the forum on actions being rolled out in pursuance of the national roadmap on polio eradication.

Mr Bharath, the PM’s coordinator on health, assured of full support to the provinces to completely eradicate the virus.

Latest case

The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in the 20-month-old female child in Qila Saifullah.

An official said this was the first case of poliovirus in the Qila Saifullah district this year. So far, 11 cases have been reported from Balochistan, two from Sindh, and one from Punjab, the official added. He said genetic sequencing of the new case was being conducted to trace the virus’ origin.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024