ISLAMABAD, April 17: About 18 cases of polio have been reported from 14 districts of Pakistan this year as compared with 93 cases from 35 districts in the previous year.

Pakistan is still one of the seven countries which have highest transmission of polio virus. These countries also include Nigeria and India.

This was told during a briefing on national immunisation days (NIDs) campaign observed from April 15-17. Renowned vocalist and ambassador for polio eradication Jawwad Ahmed, Dr Rehan Hafeez of National Programme Manager, Dr Khalif Bile, WHO representative, and Ibrahim Jabr, Unicef representative attended the briefing.

Over thirty million Pakistani children under the age of five were targeted in the second round of the NIDs for 2003, during which they were administered oral polio vaccine along with Vitamin-A supplementation. The three-day countrywide campaign concluded on Thursday.

When the campaign began in 1994, there were 527 reported cases throughout the country. At the end of 2002, there were only 93 cases in 35 districts.

Narrating his experience, Jawwad Ahmed said he felt like being an integral part of the society when children of different schools of Naushera and Peshawar sang along with him and agreed to be vaccinated.

Jawwad Ahmed was involved as part of the efforts to boost the interest of the parents and service providers in the final push against polio eradication. He toured Naushera and Peshawar on April 15 and 16 and received a warm welcome when a prominent school chain opened its doors to the vaccination teams.

The students were wearing special badges and flying placards to show their solidarity with the campaign and pledged to motivate relatives and friends to get every child vaccinated. Jawad also suggested involvement of religious people, as at many places he experienced that people listened to Imam Masjid more seriously than others.

Meanwhile, Mr Ibrahim Jabr said: “Like we can’t quit a cricket match in the 49th over, similarly we can’t afford to stop this campaign.” He said while the goal was in sight, there was no room for complacency. Polio is not an end by itself, in fact it’s the beginning of a future,” he added.

He said one of the key features of the programme was sustainable supply of polio vaccine (OPV) needed for successful implementation of the NIDs. He said the total requirement for the year 2003 was an estimated 209 million doses at a cost of $20 million. Of this, $9.6 million had been contributed by the Government of Japan and the rest by the World Bank and Canadian International Development Authority through Unicef.

He said the effort to eradicate polio stood out as a highly successful initiative not only protecting millions of children in Pakistan from permanent disability but also ensuring a polio-free Pakistan. Mr Jabr said the Unicef’s aim with the government was to ensure sustainability of these gains, and the best way was to strengthen and accelerate the routine immunisation programme (EPI), which was one of the main strategies for polio- eradication.

Dr Khalif Bile said polio affected the poor section of the society most. He said social mobilization was the most important part because by mobilizing people “we could reach everybody.” He said with the process of devolution, Pakistan had numerous people’s representatives and if they were involved in the process, every new-born baby could be immunized.

Dr Rehan Hafiz conceded that sometimes schools resisted getting their students vaccinated without the permission of their parents.