Another 18-month-old female child fell victim to polio virus in Balochistan's Killa Abdullah district on Thursday. With this case, the number of polio cases in Pakistan's southwestern province has risen to 11.
Sources in the province's health department told Dawn that polio virus was found in an 18-month-old female child in Killa Abdullah.
This new case surfaced just a day after an anti-polio campaign was concluded in Quetta and other 10 districts of the province.
A polio vaccination campaign was launched amid tight security in 11 districts of Balochistan earlier this week. During the campaign, over 238,000 children below the age of five will be administered polio vaccine.
Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Malik Baloch had taken serious notice of increasing polio cases in the country’s largest province and directed all elected members to stay in their constituencies during the campaign.
Polio teams were also provided security by the provincial government to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident during the campaign in which a large number of children below the age of five were administered polio drops.
The districts where the campaign was launched included Quetta, Killa Saifullah, Killa Abdullah, Sherani, Zhob, Pishin, Loralai, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Lasbela.
Moreover, five polio cases have been reported so far from Killa Abdullah, five from Quetta and one from Balochistan's Zhob district this year.
Balochistan remained polio free for more than two years. However, first polio case was found in July from Killa Abdullah district.
The year 2011 appeared to be the worst when 73 polio cases were reported from the province. Health officials in Balochistan termed refusal on the part of parents as the main reason behind increasing polio cases.
However, independent sources also blame the health department, UNICEF and other organisations for their inability and incompetency to curb the rising number of polio cases in the region.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Pakistan: 18-month-old child from Balochistan falls prey to polio
Another 18-month-old female child fell victim to polio virus in Balochistan's Killa Abdullah district on Thursday. With this case, the number of polio cases in Pakistan's southwestern province has risen to 11.
Sources in the province's health department told Dawn that polio virus was found in an 18-month-old female child in Killa Abdullah.
This new case surfaced just a day after an anti-polio campaign was concluded in Quetta and other 10 districts of the province.
A polio vaccination campaign was launched amid tight security in 11 districts of Balochistan earlier this week. During the campaign, over 238,000 children below the age of five will be administered polio vaccine.
Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Malik Baloch had taken serious notice of increasing polio cases in the country’s largest province and directed all elected members to stay in their constituencies during the campaign.
Polio teams were also provided security by the provincial government to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident during the campaign in which a large number of children below the age of five were administered polio drops.
The districts where the campaign was launched included Quetta, Killa Saifullah, Killa Abdullah, Sherani, Zhob, Pishin, Loralai, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Lasbela.
Moreover, five polio cases have been reported so far from Killa Abdullah, five from Quetta and one from Balochistan's Zhob district this year.
Balochistan remained polio free for more than two years. However, first polio case was found in July from Killa Abdullah district.
The year 2011 appeared to be the worst when 73 polio cases were reported from the province. Health officials in Balochistan termed refusal on the part of parents as the main reason behind increasing polio cases.
However, independent sources also blame the health department, UNICEF and other organisations for their inability and incompetency to curb the rising number of polio cases in the region.
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