ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s polio eradication programme on Thursday said that another case of the poliovirus has been reported from the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, taking the total number of cases this year in the country to 49.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad has confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus (WPV1) from Jaffarabad district of Balochistan, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme said on Thursday.
Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme said that this is the first polio case from Jaffarabad which shares a border with Nasirabad and Jhal Magsi districts in Balochistan and Jacobabad and Kambar districts in Sindh, all of which have reported WPV1 in sewage samples or human cases in recent months, indicating wider circulation of the virus.
The South Asian nation, with a population of over 240 million, reported only a single case of paralytic poliovirus infections in 2021, following a period of more than 15 months without any documented cases. However, the numbers have since risen again.
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, with at least 18 cases this year, according to WHO, are the only two countries where polio remains endemic.
Data from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme shows that so far this year, 24 cases have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in KP, and one each in Punjab and the country’s capital, Islamabad.
In 2023, Pakistan had reported only six polio cases, 70 percent less than the total cases reported in 2022.
On November 8, the country’s polio programme reported the presence of Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in two previously unaffected districts—Bajaur and Gujrat—bringing the total number of infected districts to 72.
Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, coordinator to the prime minister on national health services, told Arab News in an interview that an estimated 500,000 Pakistani children missed polio vaccinations during the countrywide vaccination drive conducted from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3.
In a statement, the polio programme emphasised the importance of the oral polio vaccine, saying, “The vaccine is essential to protect children from disability caused by polio infection.”
It urged parents across the country to ensure that all children under five receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and that their routine vaccinations are up to date.
