IMB declares a horrible year for Pakistan in eradicating polio

ISLAMABAD: The International Monitoring Board (IMB) has declared a horrible year for Pakistan in terms of polio eradication at a global health forum.

The IMB, which provides a self-sufficient evaluation of the progress made by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in the detection of polio transmission globally, termed a lack of political unity behind polio resurgence in Pakistan.

The IMB urged the government to depoliticize the polio program and to conduct an anti-polio campaign nationally without biasedness.

The IMB stated, “Polio cannot be eradicated with a vaccine that is politically and socially toxic.”

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It added, “In Pakistan, there has been a serious controversy about the polio program, and, perhaps for the first time, there is a risk that polio eradication may come to be seen as a partisan, rather than a national issue.”

The IMB also expressed concern over the September 2019 campaign in which the highest-ever number of missed children in Pakistan were reported.

Polio in Pakistan began its resurgence in the third quarter of 2018, and intensified in the second quarter of 2019, with a record number of 38 cases in that quarter alone. This was followed by 30 cases in the third quarter of 2019.

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The report also signals increased geographical dispersal of the virus: 25 districts have reported polio cases so far in 2019 compared to just 5 in 2018.

The number of infected districts, having either polio cases or positive environmental samples, has almost doubled: 51 (as of 2nd November 2019), compared to 27 this time last year.

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The number of wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan stood at 77 on 29th October 2019, as opposed to only 6 in 2018 during the corresponding time.

The figure has risen to 86 so far this year. Of these, 64 cases have been confirmed from KP, 10 from Sindh, 7 from Balochistan, and 5 from Punjab.

Officials claim reluctance on the part of parents to immunize children against polio is the main reason behind the spike in the number of polio cases in Pakistan this year.

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Pakistan is among the three countries in the world, including Afghanistan and Nigeria, where poliovirus still exists.