According to media reports, Pakistan has recorded no new cases of polio in the first six months of 2021, a record that has never been witnessed before.
According to media reports, Pakistan has recorded no new cases of polio in the first six months of 2021, a record that has never been witnessed before. “Pakistan has come closest ever to achieve the goal of polio eradication with no wild polio cases in the last six months and consistent decline in the number of positive environmental samples,” focal person for polio eradication Brigadier Shehzad Baig told the publication.
According to Brigadier Baig, the virus’s geographic spread throughout the country has now been limited to just a few places.
According to a report by the ministry of health on the status of polio, the Polio Eradication Program has achieved comparable results in the past (low case count), but the significant decrease in the virus in the environment at the same time is unique and encouraging.
“It indicates that the virus is under immense pressure and finding it difficult to survive in the majority of the areas,” says the report.
Meanwhile, authorities informed The News that the DRAP has approved the use of the Novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), clearing the path for its introduction in the country.
Amir Khuwaja, the Secretary of Health, told the newspaper that problems such as missing children, refusals, and bad propaganda still exist, but that the authorities are working hard to address them.
During the sub-national anti-polio campaign, approximately 33 million children under the age of five were vaccinated, according to the health ministry.
From June 7 to 11, the campaign was held in 124 districts across the country, including all four provinces, Azad Jammu Kashmir, and Islamabad.
During the campaign, around 225,000 “Sehat Tahafuz” frontline workers visited families and caregivers to ensure that children were vaccinated against the crippling poliovirus.
