ISLAMABAD: The country rep­o­rted three more polio cases on Saturday, raising the total to 21 for the year, with affected children belonging to Qila Abdullah in Balochistan, Karachi’s Keamari in Sindh, and Mohmand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This prompted the prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, to urge parents and caregivers nationwide to ensure their children are vaccinated against the disease, warning that polio continues to silently threaten future generations.

The Regional Reference Labora­t­ory for Polio Eradi­c­ation at the Nat­i­onal Insti­tute of Health has confirmed three new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). KP’s case is also the first for the province this year.

Expressing deep concern over the escalating number of polio-affected children, Ms Farooq reiterated the government’s resolve to put polio eradication efforts back on track. She appealed to parents to act responsibly and vaccinate their children.

KP reports its first case of 2024; two children affected in Qila Abdullah, Karachi

“Every new case is a child with a name, a face and a life that is forever altered by the crippling impact of polio,” she said. “It is heartbreaking to witness these new cases, especially in areas where the virus continues to spread silently. Every new case is a new child whose life will forever be affected by a tragic disease for which there is a simple solution through vaccination.”

Ms Farooq said that the September campaign, which concluded last week, was the first of the 2024-25 season that successfully reached 33 million children in 115 at-risk districts.

“The programme plans to do a nationwide campaign from Oct 21 while another large-scale subnational cam­paign in December will significantly plug the current immunity gap and change the epidemiology,” she said.

“Boosting the Expanded Programme of Immuni­sation (EPI) synergy, a dedicated ‘Big Catchup’ initiative is also planned during the same period, aiming to vaccinate all under-five children against all EPI-targeted diseases who missed any of the vaccines earlier,” Ms Farooq said.

“The coordinated efforts through a ‘whole of the nation’ approach will significantly reduce the risk against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis and pneumonia. All segments of society need to join hands and make this endeavour a real success,” she said.

According to a statement, the government has updated its National Polio Eradication Emergency Operations Plan to get to zero cases to combat this alarming situation.

The focus is to address the critical gaps in campaign quality, including access, migrant mobile populations, vaccine acceptance and service delivery for the upcoming campaigns this year.

Before the end of the year, the authorities will conduct two large-scale, house-to-house campaigns, which remain crucial to closing the current immunity gaps and reversing the spread of the virus.

The national coordinator for the Polio Emergency Operations Centre, Muhammad Anwarul Haq, has reiterated the fact that polio has once again affected children in Karachi and Balochistan, and has now reached KP, is a stark reminder of the critical importance of vaccination.

“Every new child affected by polio is a stark reminder of the gaps in the walls of immunity,” he said.

“The fact that too many children are still missing their opportunity of vaccination through campaigns and through their routine immunisation is the responsibility of us all.”

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2024