KARACHI: Pakistani authorities called on parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated against polio on Saturday as the country reported another case of the disease from the southern Sindh province, pushing this year’s tally to 24.
The latest child to be affected by the paralyzing disease is a 29-month-old boy from Hyderabad district in Sindh, Pakistan’s national anti-polio program said in a statement.
The South Asian country reported its latest case of the infection on Thursday when a 10-month-old child was paralyzed by polio in the northwestern city of Kohat. Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world.
“Polio has no cure, yet it is entirely preventable with the help of an easily accessible vaccine that the government provides to families at their doorsteps,” Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication, said in a statement.
She stressed that poliovirus will not discriminate against its victims, adding that the disease will attack any child.
“We must urgently ensure that every child under our care is repeatedly receiving the polio vaccine and has received all doses of routine immunization so that they are strong enough to fight off polio,” Farooq said.
This is the second polio case to be reported from Hyderabad where a case was earlier reported in August. Pakistan has now reported 24 polio cases in 2024 out of which 15 have been reported from the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, five from Sindh, two from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
The Pakistan Polio Programme said it recently concluded a polio campaign in September during which nearly 33 million children under five were provided the polio vaccine in 115 districts of the country.
“Two more mass vaccination campaigns are planned before the end of the year to bolster immunity in children, particularly those that are most vulnerable,” it said.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994 and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then but the country continues to face challenges in its fight against polio, including militancy, with polio workers targeted by attacks particularly in the KP province.
The polio program has adapted to respond to climate disasters such as floods but continues to face disruptions. There are also gaps in supplementary immunization activities, especially in areas where the virus is still present.
