Latest news with #polio
Arab News
a day ago
- General
- Arab News
Pakistan says 96% of children vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio drive
KARACHI: Polio vaccinations continued across Pakistan for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday, with 96% of targeted children receiving doses during the first five days of the campaign, the country's National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement. Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside neighboring Afghanistan. Efforts to eliminate the disease have been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on polio workers by militant groups. In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted during these campaigns. 'During the first five days, 96% of children across the country have been administered polio drops,' the NEOC said at the start of the campaign's sixth day. 'The vaccination campaign is underway simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan,' it continued, adding this was to curb cross-border transmission of the virus, especially in frontier regions where mobility between the two countries remains high. According to Pakistani officials, the current vaccination drive aims to reach more than 45 million children nationwide. It is part of Pakistan's intensified response following a sharp uptick in cases last year, when 74 children were diagnosed with the crippling virus. Ten cases have been reported so far in 2025, prompting authorities to step up outreach and door-to-door campaigns. According to the NEOC, provincial breakdowns so far show 97% coverage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 96% in both Punjab and Balochistan, 94% in Sindh, 98% in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 101% in Gilgit-Baltistan, where more children were reached than initially estimated. Islamabad reported 97% coverage. In Balochistan, the country's most underdeveloped province that reported 27 cases last year, local authorities introduced recreational activities such as free swings and camel rides in Quetta to attract children and facilitate their vaccination. The effort drew large crowds, allowing teams to immunize children while they took part in the festivities. 'This initiative is critically important as we enter the high-transmission season,' said Ziaur Rehman, spokesperson for Pakistan's Polio Program. 'It will play a key role in timely containment of the virus.' He urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive polio drops to protect them from lifelong disability.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Over 36 million children vaccinated as Pakistan anti-polio campaign enters fourth day
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has vaccinated approximately 36.4 million children as the third nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year entered its fourth day today, Thursday, the country's polio program said. Around 400,000 frontline workers, including 225,000 women vaccinators, are driving the campaign launched on Monday to vaccinate 45 million children under the age of five. The drive will conclude on June 1. Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, along with the completion of the routine immunization schedule for all children, are essential to ensure strong immunity against the disease. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases so far this year, compared to 74 cases in 2024. 'In the first three days, 81 percent of (45 million) children across the country have been vaccinated,' the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement. '85 percent in Punjab, 68 percent in Sindh, 86 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 74 percent of children in Balochistan have been vaccinated.' The report said 63 percent of children were administered polio drops in the federal capital, Islamabad, 93 percent in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 91 percent in Gilgit-Baltistan. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. Pakistan's polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been repeatedly undermined by vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage. Militant groups have also frequently targeted polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them, often resulting in deadly attacks. A Pakistani police officer was killed earlier this week when gunmen opened fire on a team of health workers carrying out a polio vaccination drive in the volatile Balochistan province on the second day of a door-to-door campaign.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Gunmen kill police officer assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan
This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo) QUETTA, Pakistan — Gunmen shot and killed a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday before fleeing the scene, police and officials said. The attack occurred in Noshki, a district in Balochistan province, local police official Mohammad Hassan said, adding that the polio workers escaped unharmed in the attack. The female health workers were administering oral polio vaccine drops to children inside a house when the assailants opened fire on the officer, Abdul Waheed, who died on the way to the hospital, Hassan said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in separate statements denounced the assault and vowed stern action against those behind the attack, which came a day after Pakistan launched the nationwide campaign to vaccinate 45 million children from polio. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus hasn't been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. Since January, Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases from various parts of the country despite the launch of immunization drives. Last year, the South Asian country witnessed a surge in polio cases, which jumped to 74, though it reported only one polio case in 2021. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks. The Associated Press
Arab News
5 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Police official guarding polio team shot dead in Pakistan's southwest
ISLAMABAD: A police official providing security to a polio vaccination team was shot dead in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, the provincial administration said, highlighting the persistent threat to workers involved in the country's polio eradication campaign. Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside Afghanistan. Efforts to eradicate the disease have faced numerous challenges, including parental refusals, misinformation and persistent attacks by militant groups. In many remote and volatile regions, vaccination teams operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have frequently been targeted. 'A police officer was martyred in Nushki while guarding a polio team,' said Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind in a statement. 'The polio campaign is a national duty, and any attack on it is intolerable,' he added. 'We pay tribute to the officer who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty.' The slain officer, identified as Waheed Ahmed, was a resident of Jamalabad, Nushki, according to the provincial spokesperson. Rind termed the shooting 'a conspiracy to sabotage the national campaign and spread fear.' He also vowed stricter action against the perpetrators. 'The government will further strengthen security measures for both polio teams and the personnel assigned to protect them,' he added. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the incident, expressing sorrow over the death of the police official and extending condolences to his family. 'An attack on a polio team working to safeguard the future of our children is unacceptable,' he said. 'Elements opposing the polio campaign will be dealt with firmly.' Pakistan witnessed a sharp rise in polio cases last year, with 74 children diagnosed with the crippling disease, 27 of them from Balochistan. So far this year, 10 cases have been reported across the country, prompting authorities to ramp up door-to-door vaccination drives despite the ongoing threat from militant groups.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gunmen shoot and kill policeman assigned to protect polio workers in restive NW Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed a policeman assigned to protect polio workers in restive southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday before fleeing the scene, police and officials said. The attack occurred in Noshki, a district in Balochistan province, local police official Mohammad Hassan said, adding that the polio workers escaped unharmed in the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a statement denounced the assault and vowed stern action against those who are behind the attack, which came a day after Pakistan launched the nationwide campaign to vaccinate 45 million children from polio. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralyzing virus hasn't been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. Since January, Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases from various parts of the country despite the launch of anti-polio drives. Last year, the South Asian country witnessed a surge in polio cases, which jumped to 74, though it reported only one polio case in 2021. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks.
