Balochistan reports another polio case
Health Desk :
Balochistan health department has confirmed another polio case on Sunday evening. A nine-month-old minor girl tested positive for the crippling virus in Quetta, sources in the health department said. The samples of the minor girl collected on September 21st. The laboratory confirmed the girl contracted the virus, they said.
With the confirmation of the new polio case, the number of cases reached 21 in Balochistan. Most of the cases reported from Quetta, Pishin, and Killa Abdullah districts of Balochistan. The Emergency Operation Cell (EOC) Chief, Rashid Razzaq had already warned that the environmental samples collected from Quetta, Pishin, and Killa Abdullah show the presence of a crippling virus.
No anti-polio drops provided to the minor girl
Health department sources revealed that the minor girl was not provided polio drops. The number of chronic refusals in the above-mentioned districts is high as compared to other parts of the province. UNICEF, EOC, and the health department have formed committees comprising religious scholars formed to convince the chronic refusals. The committees are yet to convince chronic refusals.
Poor planning, refusals, long distances, and poor communication appear to be the underlying reasons behind increasing cases of the crippling virus in Balochistan. Recently, anti-polio campaigns launched in all 33 districts of Balochistan to provide polio drops to children under the age of five years.
Over 2.6 m children provided anti-polio drops in Balochistan
The EOC sources stated that over 2.6 million children provided polio drops in Balochistan during the four-days anti-polio drive. For the last more than three decades, anti campaigns are underway. However, the crippling virus is yet to be eradicated by the government, UNICEF, and other concerned quarters. Increasing polio cases have put the lives of children under the age of five years at peril.
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