Latest news with #polioProgram
CTV News
2 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not 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. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR: Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not 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. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not 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. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not 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. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
Arab News
26-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Pakistan kicks off nationwide polio drive, aims to vaccinate 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday kicked off a third nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign of this year that aims to inoculate more than 45 million children under the age of five. 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 has confirmed 10 cases so far this year, according to the polio program. Environmental surveillance has detected the virus in 272 sewage samples from 127 testing sites, across 68 districts, signaling continued circulation. Inaugurating the campaign at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) in Islamabad, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said community engagement was inevitable in eliminating the virus from Pakistan, urging parents to immunize all children under the age of five years. 'Protect your children from permanent disability by vaccinating them,' Kamal said, describing frontline anti-polio workers as the 'real heroes.' 'Full-fledged community engagement is essential for the eradication of polio.' Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan's polio program on Sunday described the weeklong campaign as a critical intervention in the country's 'final push' to interrupt poliovirus transmission and achieve eradication by end of 2025. Around 400,000 frontline workers, including 225,000 women vaccinators, are taking part in the current campaign and will go door-to-door to inoculate children. 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.
