Pakistan’s polio fight suffers a blow with 2 new cases reported in the south
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan reported two new polio cases in the southern province of Sindh, health officials said Monday, a blow to efforts aimed at eradicating the crippling disease among children. This brings the total to 29 cases across the country since January, despite several immunization drives.
The virus was detected in two young girls in the cities of Badin and Thatta, according to a statement from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where transmission of the wild poliovirus has never been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. Some parents in Pakistan still refuse to vaccinate their children, while others live in hard-to-access areas, experts say.
Meanwhile, health workers sometimes suffer life-threatening attacks when trying to reach households in former militant strongholds in the country’s restive northwest. In February, gunmen killed a police officer assigned to protect a vaccination team in Jamrud, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks.
Authorities said nearly 21 million children under the age of five were vaccinated during a campaign earlier this month. Another nationwide, weeklong door-to-door drive is set to begin Oct. 13, targeting 45 million children.
Polio is a highly infectious, incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Pakistan has been reporting an average of about three new cases each month since January.
The WHO and its partners launched the global polio eradication initiative in 1988, following the notable precedent set by the elimination of smallpox in 1980. The effort came close several times, including in 2021, when just five cases were reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But cases have since rebounded, rising to 99 last year, and Pakistan has repeatedly missed eradication deadlines.