Pakistan: Two new polio cases take national count to 29

It is a little too soon for Pakistan to be bragging about a decline in the number of polio cases. With the confirmation of two new cases on Wednesday, the country’s national polio case count has risen to 29 so far this year. The new polio victims are 19-month-old Safina, daughter of Omar Zada, and 8-month-old Basituallah, son of Hussain Sher. The children belong to Charsadda and Peshawar, respectively. Unless all remaining challenges are tackled with an iron hand, particularly in the three major poliovirus transmission zones in Pakistan — Fata, Quetta and adjoining districts, and parts of Karachi — it would be premature to celebrate the successes achieved so far. Similar sentiments were expressed by the WHO Regional Director Dr. Ala Alwan who briefly visited Pakistan on Tuesday to take stock of the country’s polio situation. According to a press release issued by WHO here on Wednesday, Dr. Alwan underscored that polio eradication cannot be achieved in Pakistan until the children in Khyber Agency, particularly Bara, who have been inaccessible to the programme since 2009, are reached and vaccinated. “Pakistan has turned the corner through its Emergency Action Plan,” said Dr Alwan, “Nevertheless, the deteriorating security situation in Karachi, impaired access in Bara in Khyber Agency and the recent ban in North and South Waziristan Agencies constitute a substantial risk to all the efforts.” The Regional Director put special emphasis on reaching and vaccinating high-risk and highly mobile groups. The common denominator linking the main transmission zones are communities which are under-served by health services: 73% of polio cases this year are from Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Dr. Alwan raised the alarm over the situation in North and South Waziristan agencies where a locally announced ban on vaccination has put more than 200,000 children at immediate and escalating risk of polio. If not addressed, this ban will seriously jeopardise the efforts of the government and partner organisations. On Quetta and surrounding districts, Dr Alwan noted that although remarkable efforts made by the provincial administrative leadership have resulted in recent gains, ongoing managerial weaknesses, particularly in Pishin, endanger the gains. Later in the day, the Regional Director met President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss the progress and the challenges to the polio programme in Pakistan. He urged the government to make additional substantial financial contributions, similar to those made by the governments of India and Nigeria. Dr. Alwan informed the president that he was very encouraged by the growing interest among countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to support polio eradication activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan through the Islamic Development Bank.