ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s polio eradication programme has confirmed three new cases of poliovirus, two from the southwestern province of Balochistan and one from the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The latest cases taken this year tally to 55, more than double the number reported in the past two years.
The new cases include two from Balochistan’s Zhob and Jaffarabad districts and one from Dera Ismail Khan. Dera Ismail Khan, located in southern KP, is one of the country’s seven polio-endemic districts and has now reported six cases this year.
Zhob has seen its third case, while Jaffarabad has recorded its second.
On Friday, Pakistan had reported two polio cases from the KP province.
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.
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Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two remaining polio endemic countries in the world. Afghanistan has far reported 18 cases this year, according to the WHO.
Data from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme shows that so far this year, 24 cases have been reported in Balochistan, 13 each in Sindh, 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.
Earlier today, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq said that they have revitalized a one-team approach and are deploying data-driven and locally tailored strategies to improve polio campaign quality.
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 October 28 to November 3.
