Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
After detection of three cases of polio in the last few weeks the National Polio Programme on Monday launched a 5-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign across the country to administer polio vaccine to around 43.3 million children. According to the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), considering a massive movement across the Afghan border, it has been decided to synchronize the campaign with Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world left with poliovirus.
Earlier, the campaign had to be held at sub-national level or in selected union councils but after detection of the recent cases it has been decided to conduct it across the country, the ministry’s spokesperson said. The campaign will be conducted from May 23 to 27. As many as 43.3 million children under five years of age will receive the polio vaccine. Around 340,000 frontline workers will participate in the campaign observing COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
A supplementary dose of Vitamin A drops will also be administered to children during the campaign. The nationwide campaign started days after three polio cases were reported in Khyber Pakthunkhwa’s North Waziristan district this year within a period of five weeks.
On January 27 this year Pakistan had marked a major milestone with no wild polio case reported for one year but within the last few weeks three cases of poliovirus have been reported from KP’s North Waziristan district. Last Sunday, (May 15), a one-year-old boy from North Waziristan was reported as the third case of polio this year.
The wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was confirmed in the boy from Miranshah by the polio laboratory at the National Institute of Health, (NIH) Islamabad, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The onset of paralysis was observed in the child on May 14. Before that, Pakistan reported its first two cases of the virus on April 22 and April 30, respectively — again from North Waziristan. The victims, a 15-month-old boy and a two-year-old girl, belonged to the Mir Ali Tehsil of North Waziristan.
