https://arab.news/yw6wq
- Pakistan has reported 41 polio cases this year compared to six in 2023
- Punjab decides to geo-tag migrant populations to stem spread of polio
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s eastern and most populous Punjab province plans to vaccinate over 23 million children against poliovirus from Monday, state-run media reported this week, as Islamabad battles a surge in cases of the infection.
Pakistan has reported 41 polio cases this year, compared to only six in 2023, with most cases involving children in impoverished areas due to logistical challenges, parental refusal, and security threats.
Punjab has reported only one case out of 41 in 2024 while the southwestern Balochistan province has been hit the hardest. Militant groups, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, have targeted polio workers and their security escorts, labeling these vaccination campaigns as foreign conspiracies.
A meeting of Punjab’s Provincial Taskforce on Polio Eradication was held on Saturday in which it was decided to bolster vaccination efforts ahead of a national drive starting from Monday.
“The meeting was briefed that during the polio eradication campaign, over 23.3 million children will be vaccinated,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said on Saturday.
“For this purpose, 4,888 permanent teams and 2654 transit teams have been formed.”
It was also decided that the provincial government would geo-tag migrant populations in the province to monitor the spread of the disease in Punjab.
The state broadcaster said special polio vaccination teams will be stationed at key entry and transit points across Punjab to ensure that children in transit are immunized.
Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio have suffered due to frequent attacks on polio vaccination teams and security personnel protecting them.
Many in Pakistan believe the conspiracy theory that polio vaccines are part of a plot by Westerners to sterilize the country’s population. The masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.