ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Polio virus (WPV1) in an environmental sample collected from District Lahore.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, the environmental sample was collected from the Gulshan Ravi ES site, Lahore in January 2023. He added that this was the first positive environmental sample from Pakistan this year.
He said that a total of 37 positive environmental samples were detected from the country last year including 10 from Bannu, six from Peshawar, five from Swat, three each from Lahore and Rawalpindi, one each from Nowshera, South Waziristan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Karachi and Islamabad. In 2021, as many as 65 positive environmental samples were detected in the country.
Meanwhile, Minister for National Health Services Abdul Qadir Patel said that there was unprecedented support and commitment to eradicating polio in Pakistan.
He said that the target was complete eradication of the virus from the country and the government was fully committed to achieving all targets with the support of local communities and front-line workers. “Reaching every child during polio campaigns and strengthening the routine immunization system is the top priority of the government,” he added.
