QUETTA: Next month, officials will launch a simultaneous vaccination campaign on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. They blame cross-border movement for the polio surge in Balochistan. This surge has resulted in a dozen cases of the virus reported this year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio is still endemic. Since January 2024, Pakistan has reported 16 cases of poliovirus. Twelve of these cases are from Balochistan, which borders five Afghan provinces.
In a press conference on Thursday, Inamul Haq Qureshi, the Emergency Operation Centre’s Balochistan coordinator, made an announcement. They will launch a five-day special countrywide vaccination campaign on September 9. This initiative aims to address the ongoing polio surge.
Authorities attribute surge in Balochistan to cross-border movement
He said the Pakistan authorities were in touch with their Afghan counterparts in Kandahar for coordination over the virus situation.
Mr. Qureshi said that poliovirus has diagnosed 12 children in Balochistan this year. The virus has killed three of these children, indicating that it is “life-threatening.”
He said that three factors contribute to the rising number of cases in Balochistan. First, population movement spreads the virus. Second, some parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Third, nutritional deficiencies and weakened immunity in children also play a role.
Mr Qureshi alleged that vaccinators were forging the immunisation data to show more vaccinated children without inoculating them.
He said that in Quetta division, someone reported that 534 out of over 4,000 suspected workers were involved in this forgery, and authorities initiated an investigation against them.
After processing, the investigation found 74 polio workers involved in the fake vaccination scandal, and authorities terminated them from service.
He added that Balochistan was on the verge of declaring itself a polio-free province because the authorities had not reported any cases for 28 months before a case surfaced in February.
The Deaths of Three Children
Sewage water samples from last year show the presence of polio virus in 17 Balochistan districts, he said, calling the current virus situation “alarming”, especially the death of three children due to the virus in the past four months.
He said the children, including a baby girl and two boys, belonged to Qila Saifullah, Quetta and Kharan.
The children had suffered from other diseases since they lost immunity after the poliovirus crippled them, the official added.
He pointed out that incomplete vaccination coverage and border area mobility were obstacles to eradicating polio.
To address these challenges, officials have developed a strategy and are urging the media and parents to cooperate in protecting children from this disease.
He mentioned that the case reported in Qila Abdullah involved a child who had migrated from Karachi and contracted the virus.
This news is sourced from [Dawn News] and is for informational purposes only.
