Polio cases on decline: UN official

Published April 25, 2005

MANSEHRA, April 24: The surveillance officer of the United Nations in Mansehra, Dr Qamar Zaman, has said that only four confirmed cases of polio have been reported in the first quarter of the current year in the country as compared to eight cases in the corresponding period last year.

This; he said, was a big achievement and there was hope that this deadly disease would be completely eradicated very soon as Pakistan is passing through the make or break phase in its polio eradication campaign.

He was briefing newsmen in his office here on Sunday.

Giving the break-up of the polio cases, he said that two cases of polio were reported in Multan, one in Sanghar and one in Peshawar. He said that no polio case was reported in Hazara division in the first quarter of 2005.

He said though a polio case was reported in Mansehra district last year and it was added in the list of the high-risk districts for polio but due to anti-polio campaign and surveillance system in the district no polio case was reported in Mansehra this year, “as children below five were vulnerable to polio.

He asked all segments of the society, especially parents, to extend their full-cooperation and support to anti-polio drive teams.

Pakistan would be declared a polio-free country with strong cooperation and support of the society in the polio-eradication campaign, he said.

Appreciating the work done by the district health department in the polio eradication campaigns, he said that they had achieved 90 per cent target so far as the four snow-bound points including Narain 1 and 2, Mahandery and Kaghan were closed due to landslides.

He said if these snow-bound areas were opened for the traffic then the target of the 251,247 children would be achieved in the up-coming polio eradication campaign which falls on April 26 to 28 in the district. To achieve the said target around 602 mobile and 66 fixed polio teams have been constituted in the district.—PPI

Opinion

Editorial

Dickensian misery
Updated 26 Mar, 2023

Dickensian misery

Analysts warn we can expect inflationary pressures to get progressively worse over the remainder of the month.
Dog-bite cases
26 Mar, 2023

Dog-bite cases

AWAY from the hurly-burly of politics, Pakistan’s considerable healthcare challenges cry out for attention. ...
Life-changing chatbot…
26 Mar, 2023

Life-changing chatbot…

THE arrival and impressive performance of the generative artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT has left the world...
Elusive deal
Updated 25 Mar, 2023

Elusive deal

The cost of ineptitude in dealing with the IMF will be brutal.
Orwellian schemes
Updated 25 Mar, 2023

Orwellian schemes

THE proposed task force to police social media for ‘anti-army’ content is a bad idea, simply because such vague...
Covid-19 on the rise
25 Mar, 2023

Covid-19 on the rise

IN a development that ought to be watched closely by the authorities, Covid-19 infections saw a sudden increase in a...