Polio case reported in Quetta
News Desk:
A 20-month old boy tested positive for the poliovirus in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. With the confirmation of a new case, the number of crippling virus cases reached 16 during the current year.
Sources in the Emergency Operation Cell (EOC) said the boy belongs to Quetta’s Mian Ghundi area in the South of the city. No polio drops provided to the patient since the family had refused to get their children vaccinated. The child’s limbs were both paralyzed, they said.
EOC battling poliovirus
The Emergency Operation Cell (EOC) established to battle the crippling virus had launched the anti-polio campaign in July this year in collaboration with the government of Balochistan, UNICEF, and World Health Organization (WHO) in 10 UCs of the city. A target of 110, 000 children were set by the government and EOC to provide polio drops. The EOC failed to provide details about the children provided polio drops during the five-day campaign.
Rashid Razzaq, the Chief of Emergency Operation Cell (EOC) had earlier stated that environmental samples collected in Quetta show the presence of poliovirus in the city.
The number of poliovirus cases reached 64 across the country after confirmation of a fresh case in Quetta. Despite decades of anti-polio campaigns, the virus appears to be rampant. Increasing polio cases put the lives of children at peril in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. Most of the cases reported from Quetta, Killa Abdullah, and Pishin districts of Balochistan.
An official of the EOC who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter revealed that the number of chronic refusals in the three districts is in thousands. EOC, UNICEF, and the health department have formed committees comprising religious scholars to convince chronic refusals.
Polio case reported in Quetta
