ISLAMABAD: A one-year-old boy has been paralyzed by wild polio in North Waziristan, in the third case reported from Pakistan this year. According to official sources, the child had an onset of paralysis on 2nd May in Miranshah, while the case was confirmed by the Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad on Saturday 14th May.
“Another child will live with lifelong physical disabilities because of this preventable disease. As a country, we must understand the human cost of not finishing polio from Pakistan. Every polio case is a huge tragedy,” Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said.
“In the absence of any cure for poliovirus, the only way to protect children from life-long physical disabilities is to vaccinate them in each campaign,” the health minister added.
“Since January, we have taken emergency measures in the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to save children from wild polio and these measures have been further extended and intensified, he added.
The six districts in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been identified by the polio programme as the area most at risk and an emergency action plan was initiated that is allowing the programme to reach more children than before.
“I am personally monitoring all polio eradication efforts. Recently, I visited Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after the outbreak and met the families of the affected children. I will now be going to all areas at high risk for polio to oversee operations on the ground,” the minister added.
“After the first child was paralyzed, we feared that there would be more polio cases because of how infectious this virus is. Unfortunately, there may be more until every child is reached by the vaccine,” said Health Secretary Aamir Ashraf Khawaja.
