ISLAMABAD (AP) – Polio cases are up in Pakistan ahead of a new vaccination drive, in a country where violence against health workers and the police who protect them has hampered years of efforts to eradicate the disease.
Health authorities have confirmed 39 new cases of polio since January in Pakistan, compared to just six last year, said Anwarul Haq of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication.
The new national campaign will start on October 28 and aims to vaccinate at least 32 million children. “The whole purpose of these initiatives is to achieve the goal of making Pakistan a polio-free state,” he said.
Pakistan often launches anti-polio campaigns despite attacks on workers and police assigned to the operation. Armed groups falsely claim that the campaign to sterilize children is a Western conspiracy.
Most of the new polio cases were reported in the southwestern region of Baluchistan and southern Sindh, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in the east.
The state of affairs worries authorities as some earlier cases were found in the volatile north-west on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban government abruptly halted a vaccination campaign door to door in September.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries that have never stopped the spread of the disease, which can paralyze or kill. Pakistani authorities have said that the Taliban’s decision will have a strong impact outside their territory, as many people from both countries often cross the border.
The World Health Organization confirmed 18 cases of polio in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That’s up from six in 2023. Afghanistan used a house-to-house vaccination strategy in June for the first time in five years, helping to reach most of targeted children, according to the WHO.
Health authorities in Pakistan say they want both countries to run anti-polio campaigns at the same time.
2024-10-21 06:48:00
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