KARACHI: The ongoing anti-polio campaign in Karachi has seen 27 per cent refusals in 40 of the 85 high-risk union committees (UCs) covered on the first day of the drive, it emerged on Friday.

A session organised for journalists by the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio on Friday highlighted that Pakistan’s polio struggle had become a tragedy as the country today faced internal challenges more than any potential threat from people’s movements from neighbouring Afghanistan where situation had improved.

“There are reasons why the virus is still circulating [in our environment]. The ongoing drive saw 27 per cent refusal on its first day during which 62 per cent coverage of 40 UCs was achieved,” shared EOC Coordinator Irshad Sodhar.

He said that 18pc of the 48pc children who were left out were not at home.

High refusal rate attributed to lack of awareness among parents about needle-free jet injectors, says official

The high refusal, he reasoned, was due to lack of awareness among parents about the new method adopted for vaccination this time and operational challenges, hoping for better outcomes during the Aug 15-25 drive in 85 high-risk UCs.

According to experts, the ongoing drive is the first large-scale vaccination campaign using needle-free jet injectors to administer fractional doses of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (f-IPV). The method was earlier used at a limited scale in Karachi in 2019.

The f-IPV single dose, they said, had been used in number of polio outbreak settings, generally along with oral polio vaccine (OPV) and several countries were using two doses of f-IPV in their routine immunisation programmes instead of a full dose IPV.

“A single dose of f-IPV is highly immunogenic, and two doses have shown even higher immunity levels. If oral polio drops are co-administered with f-IPV, they help improve gut immunity and prevent viral transmission in the community,” explained Dr Khalid Shafi of the Pakistan Paediatric Association.

Polio outbreak threat

While acknowledging government efforts, Dr Shafi and Dr Ali Faisal Saleem, senior paediatrician at Aga Khan University Hospital, expressed concern over the polio situation in the country that had seen 14 confirmed cases and a large number of positive environmental samples this year.

The country, they emphasised, couldn’t afford neglect at this critical time else there could be a major outbreak of polio that would be difficult to control.

Community hesitancy against vaccination, Dr Saleem warned, was growing and collaborative efforts were needed to tackle the challenge.

On the link between nutrition and vaccination, he said that vaccines were effective even in children with poor nutritional status.

The experts agreed with the opinion about having a holistic approach towards the polio challenge that’s needed to be linked with efforts aimed at improving child-mother nutrition, breastfeeding and hygiene practices as well as family planning at the grassroots level.

“There is no doubt that provision of clean drinking water is the first step to prevent infectious diseases followed by vaccination,” Dr Shafi remarked.

National Coordinator Anwarul Haq and technical focal person Dr Ahmed Ali Sheikh also spoke.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024