Pakistan reports 26th polio case of the year

Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Pakistan's polio tally for the year has soared to 26 with two fresh cases of the crippling disease being reported in the country, jolting its efforts to eradicate the poliovirus, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The latest cases were confirmed in the Sindh province of the country, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The new cases are the first to be reported in the Karachi East and Sujawal districts of the province, the report said, quoting an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health here.

“This marks the first case reported this year in both districts,” the official said, adding that seven cases had been detected in the Sindh province this year.

The victims of the crippling disease were a seven-year-old girl and a 12-month-old boy, the report said.  “It is heartbreaking that Pakistani children are still being threatened by a disease that can be easily prevented with the help of an easily available polio vaccine,” said Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq.

“There is no cure for polio," she said, asserting that repeated vaccination can keep children protected from the paralytic effects of the "horrible" disease.

She urged parents, community leaders and teachers to understand the situation's urgency and take immediate steps to get all children in their care vaccinated.

"No child anywhere is safe until all children in Pakistan are repeatedly vaccinated for polio, building a wall of protection so the virus cannot break through,” she was quoted as saying in the report.

Of the 26 cases reported in Pakistan, 22 were in the Balochistan and Sindh provinces, while two cases were detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each in Punjab and Islamabad.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation. PTI GRS GRS GRS