Pakistan kicks off 2020
anti-polio campaign
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| Polio vaccination in Peshawar, Pakistan (ANSA) |
Pakistan is one of the three countries in the world where
polio is still endemic. The door-to-door campaign carried out by over 265
thousand health workers aims to vaccinate 39.6 million children under 5 years
of age.
By Robin Gomes
Pakistan’s first national vaccination campaign against
polio, this year, kicked off on Monday, after the surge in new cases recorded
last year.
According to authorities, 39.6 million children under the
age of five years are scheduled to administer the vaccine against the disease
across the country, except in Karachi that started a week ahead.
In the 3-day campaign, more than 265 thousand frontline
health workers are going door to door to find out minors who have not been
vaccinated.
How dangerous is polio?
Poliomyelitis or polio is a highly infectious disease caused
by a human enterovirus called poliovirus which invades the nervous system and
can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus is transmitted by
person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less
frequently, by a common vehicle such as contaminated water or food and
multiplies in the intestine.
One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis
(usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when their
breathing muscles become immobilized.
There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio
vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.
Eradicating polio
According to Dr. Zafar Mirza, the Special Assistant to the
Pakistani Prime Minister on Health, “the nation is all set to undertake
aggressive measures to push the virus back during 2020, setting the stage to
root out polio from the country once for all”. “We are committed to reach every
last child with the essential polio vaccine and I request all segments of
society to join hands,” he said.
Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, the coordinator of the National
Center for Emergency Operations, argues that the current geographical spread
and intensity of transmission of the virus is a real risk for all Pakistani
children. "Reaching every child - he adds - during the national door-to-door
campaign will provide the necessary immune boost to our children and guarantee
them to be protected from paralysis for life".
Still endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria
Polio remains endemic in three countries Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Nigeria. Until poliovirus transmission is interrupted in these
countries, all countries remain at risk of importing polio, especially
vulnerable countries with weak public health and immunization services and
travel or trade links to endemic countries.
Pakistan has made steady progress since 1994 bringing the
number of polio cases significantly down from the highs of almost 20,000 a
year. A total of 144 wild poliovirus (WPV) cases were reported in the country
during 2019 while another 17 have so far been reported in 2020 including ten
from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five from Sindh and two from Balochistan provinces.
The polio campaign in Pakistan has met with resistance from
many Pakistanis who believe that vaccination is anti-Islamic, causes
infertility, is a Western campaign to kill Muslims or is a ploy to spy.
Armed assailants belonging to militant groups have
frequently targeted polio vaccinators and their security in several parts of
Pakistan. Poliovirus can be considered eradicated if it hasn’t been
detected for three years.
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