Polio transmission: India may restrict travel from Pakistan

The Express Tribune

India may be the first country to impose travel restrictions on Pakistan because of its polio problem which threatens to become an international headache. India Today reported on January 28 that the Delhi government has written to its transport and railway authorities to allow screening of children coming from Pakistan or going there. It wants the health department to set up a permanent system at the Ambedkar Stadium and Old Delhi railway station where the Samjhauta Express arrives. Such screening is also carried out in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Munabao, in Rajasthan from where a train goes to Karachi. Delhi has been polio-free since 2009, said the newspaper. “We will be pushed back by at least two years if another case now comes up,” Delhi health minister Dr AK Walia said in the news report. Indian alarm can be seen in the light of reports earlier this month that samples of a strain of polio virus linked to Sukkur were found in Cairo. Egypt has been polio-free since 2004. The panicked Pakistani Embassy in Delhi has written to the Pakistan Polio Cell about this news that Delhi wants to take no chances. An official working with the PM’s polio cell said, “This is a crucial time for Pakistan to take the polio issue seriously. Lowering the number of cases in 2012 was a big achievement but now transmission of the virus to other countries is a serious cause of concern.” For its part, the Civil Aviation Authority has told all airport managers to fully cooperate with health officials to set up vaccination counters in all international departure lounges in Pakistan.