Pakan polio eradication campaign in disarray, country reports 12 new cases this year

Pakan has reported its 12th polio case this year, all in the tribal drict of North Waziran bordering Afghanan, in a fresh blow to the country’s efforts to eradicate the crippling disease, which can cause severe paralysis in children.
Pakan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with its neighbour Afghanan.
The new case — a 21-month-old boy who had the onset of paralysis on June 18 — was reported on Thursday from Union Council 2 of Mir Ali area. The child has been paralysed in the right leg, according to preliminary investigations.

All the 12 cases this year have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) North Waziran drict, with nine of them detected from Mir Ali alone, the Dawn newspaper reported.
However, other areas also remain vulnerable, it said.
“KP’s southern dricts, namely North and South Waziran, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank, and Lakki Marwat, are at the highest risk of wild poliovirus transmission,” the report quoted an official as saying.
“Bannu also reported two positive environmental samples between April and May this year, confirming that ongoing poliovirus transmission is not limited to North Waziran,” he said.

KP Special Assant on Information Muhammad Ali Saif has said the provincial government was committed to eradicating the crippling disease.
In a statement issued on Thursday, he said the provincial government was working to make the province polio-free.
Pakan Prime Miner Shehbaz Sharif said in April that his government was committed to ending all forms of polio in the country, as he appreciated US philanthrop Bill Gates for his help in eradicating the crippling disease.
Attempts to eradicate the crippling disease in Pakan have been seriously hampered deadly targeting of vaccination teams in recent years militants, who oppose the drives, claiming that the polio drops cause infertility.
In 2021, Pakan reported only one case, raising hopes it was close to eradicating polio. In April this year, however, it reported the first case of the disease in 15 months.
Since April, Pakan has regered 12 new polio cases – all in North Waziran, where parents often refuse to inoculate children.
The governments have suspended the anti-polio drive and post-campaign evaluation in the past following attacks on polio workers in different parts of the country.
Pakan began its first nationwide polio eradication campaign in 1994. At the time, the country was recording 20,000 polio cases each year on average. 2004, the number of cases had dropped to only 30 per year. Health experts dubbed it a major achievement.
The campaign, however, lost momentum after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the deteriorating security situation over the years.