Pakistan completes a year of zero polio cases today despite all odds
Syed Ali Shah :
Pakistan has completed a year of zero polio cases today (Thursday). Health officials had detected a poliovirus case on January 27 in Balochistan’s Killa Abdullah district in 2021. However, the media had reported the case on February 15, 2021.
This is for the first time in the history of Pakistan that throughout the year, the country has not reported any polio cases. Pakistan had formally launched an anti-polio campaign against the crippling virus in 1994. Earlier, the country had only launched a site-to-site campaign in the 1980s.
Despite threats, polio volunteers especially women kept continued anti-polio campaigns
Despite all odds, polio volunteers especially lady health workers, health departments, UNICEF, Rotary Club, World Health Organization (WHO) have been able to eradicate the virus. Although, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on health, Dr. Faisal Sultan took to social media network Twitter and said that environmental samples in a few areas highlight the need for a final push.
In Balochistan, polio volunteers, health, and UNICEF officials put their lives at peril during the fight against the crippling virus. Scores of polio volunteers and police and levies personnel laid down their lives to make Pakistan a polio-free country around the globe.
“There is still looming threat of poliovirus since Afghanistan has reported 3 cases”, an official of the health department Balochistan told Quetta Voice. He requested anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Killa Abdullah
Killa Abdullah is one of the highly sensitive districts when it comes to the crippling virus. It is one of the districts located in Quetta block. In 2011, the Killa Abdullah district had reported 22 polio cases out of a total of 73 cases all over Balochistan.
Refusals are one of the underlying reasons
Chronic refusals on the part of some parents have been one of the underlying reasons in Quetta block comprises of Quetta, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, and Chaman districts. Health officials reveal that the number of chronic refusals in the Quetta block is around 12,000.
However, they claimed that the committees established by the government have been able to convince chronic refusals to provide polio drops to their children.
