[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]ISLAMABAD: In 39 districts across the nation, a sub-national polio vaccination campaign that aimed to vaccinate more than six million children under the age of five came to an end on Sunday.
The drive was launched following last month’s detection of wild poliovirus in sewage samples from Lahore.
Nine districts participated in the polio drive, including the two Punjabi districts of Lahore and Faisalabad as well as the seven endemic districts in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: Bannu, DI Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, Upper South Waziristan, and Lower South Waziristan.
According to the national polio lab at the National Institute of Health, the first positive sample of 2023 was detected on Jan 19 and was genetically linked to the poliovirus found in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in November 2022. This was the first evidence of cross-border transmission in more than a year.
The second positive sample was reported on Jan 27, which was genetically linked to a virus circulating in south K-P. In a statement, Minister for National Health Services Abdul Qadir Patel said that parents and caregivers should ensure that their children are vaccinated in every campaign to protect them from the disability-causing virus and to stop it from gaining a foothold in their communities.
He said the presence of wild poliovirus with genetic links to the virus in Afghanistan and south K-P in sewage samples was evidence that the virus was moving with people and circulating in our communities.
The minister remarked: “Children in both countries are at risk for poliovirus on either side of the border. The oral polio vaccine is the only one that can provide lifetime protection.”
He advised parents and other adults to make sure that their children take these drops in order for them to stay safe since “our vaccine-delivery teams will keep bringing the vaccine to your home as often as necessary.” Dr. Shahzad Baig, the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre, stated that the under-immunized populations are where the poliovirus is moving in its final stages of eradication, emphasising the significance of repeated vaccination.
According to him, the initiative continued to be successful in preventing circulation in the districts of detection and limiting it to the endemic districts of southern K-P, despite the fact that 37 environmental samples tested positive for wild poliovirus last year in 13 districts.
During the national campaign in January, the Lahore area, which reported the positive tests, was already covered.
The second round of reaction to the viral discovery in Lahore was in February, and a third round was in March.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
