Pakistan Faces Surge in Polio Cases Despite Eradication Efforts

Pakistan has reported three new poliovirus cases, raising this year's total to 55. These cases were found in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Despite ongoing efforts and discussions with international health organizations, routine immunisation faces challenges, prolonging the fight against polio in Pakistan.

Pakistan has reported three new cases of poliovirus from the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bringing the total number of cases this year to 55, according to a media report on Monday. The Dawn newspaper highlights these cases confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health.

The affected individuals include two girls aged eight and 20 months and a five-month-old boy, with infections reported from the districts of Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob, and Jaffarabad. Dera Ismail Khan has now recorded six cases this year, despite being one of the seven polio-endemic districts in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Routine immunisation programs have faced significant logistical challenges in reaching vulnerable children in these districts over the last three years.

These new cases surfaced shortly after a Global Polio Eradication Initiative delegation met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to devise strategies for combating the outbreak. As polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the World Health Organisation stresses the importance of multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine to protect children under the age of five.

(With inputs from agencies.)