Pakistan: ''Grim polio figures''

IT is indeed a damning milestone. As reported on Thursday, the country has detected its 94th polio case this year, surpassing last year’s total cases reported. If this trend continues and with a little over five months to go before the year ends, we could be heading for an alarmingly high number of total polio cases for 2014. And with international pressure building on Pakistan thanks to our reputation as a polio ‘exporter’, such a high number of cases could translate into even greater global isolation for the country. In comparison, in Afghanistan, which is much less developed than Pakistan where state infrastructure is concerned, only seven cases have been reported this year. What is troubling is that most of these have been traced to Pakistan. The vast majority of cases in this country — 70 so far — have been reported from Fata, though a surprisingly high number (seven cases) have been reported from Karachi. This gives the state a fair idea about the key geographic areas vaccinators must focus on. And while the military operation in North Waziristan has caused a tragic exodus of IDPs, it has also thrown up an opportunity to immunise the children who were out of reach thanks to the vaccination ‘ban’ imposed by militants in parts of Fata. The state must target IDP camps as well as the cities and towns where displaced families are settling in order to vaccinate children with multiple doses.

However, as the number of cases reported so far proves, the official response to the polio crisis has been woefully inadequate. For example, there seems to be no organised effort to vaccinate passengers or check for certificates at airports, despite WHO’s call for immunisation of all travellers to and from Pakistan issued last month. The world’s concerns must not be taken lightly. If strains of polio originating in Pakistan are discovered elsewhere, travel restrictions will only get tougher. At the same time, we must not ignore the core problem: ensuring every vulnerable child is immunised.