Pakistan, Afghanistan launch polio vaccination drives as cases resurge

Islamabad — 

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan simultaneously launched caller vaccination campaigns against polio Monday amid a resurgence successful cases successful the lone 2 countries globally wherever the microorganism continues to beryllium endemic and paralyze children.

The World Health Organization reported 64 polio infections this year: 41 from Pakistan and 23 from Afghanistan, up from six each successful some countries successful 2023.

Pakistani officials said the weeklong house-to-house nationwide run that was rolled retired Monday enlists 400,000 polio workers, who purpose to vaccinate implicit 45 cardinal children nether 5 against the paralytic disease.

“This is Pakistan’s 3rd nationwide run this year, launched successful effect to the alarming summation successful polio cases crossed 71 districts,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the premier minister’s point-person for polio eradication.

More than fractional the infections successful 2024 are located successful southwestern Balochistan province, which sits connected the Afghan borderline and is “facing an aggravated transmission” of the poliovirus. The confederate state of Sindh has recorded 12 cases this year, portion different regions successful Pakistan, a state of much than 240 million, person reported the remaining cases, according to Pakistan's polio eradication program.

Anwarul Haq, the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, urged parents to cooperate with wellness teams successful protecting their children against the crippling disease, stressing that determination is nary cure for polio. “With the menace astatine an all-time high, we indispensable enactment arsenic 1 federation to support our children harmless done vaccination,” helium stated.

Local and WHO officials property the resurgence of poliovirus successful Pakistan to vaccine boycotts successful agrarian areas stemming from the mendacious propaganda that these initiatives are a Western crippled to sterilize Muslim children.

Additionally, anti-state militants successful violence-hit districts bordering Afghanistan occasionally onslaught vaccinators and their constabulary escorts, suspecting them of spying for the government. The unit has resulted successful the deaths of dozens of polio workers and constabulary personnel, including astatine slightest 2 vaccinators and 7 constabulary members killed this year.

Afghanistan

Meanwhile, wellness officials successful Taliban-led Afghanistan announced Monday the opening of a three-day polio-vaccination campaign, saying it aims to scope 6.2 cardinal children nether 5 successful 16 of the country’s 34 provinces. The people areas are chiefly located adjacent to the borderline with Pakistan.

The latest circular of this year's anti-polio run successful Afghanistan began aft astir a two-month hold due to the fact that Taliban authorities abruptly halted house-to-house vaccine deliveries successful the confederate state of Kandahar without publically stating immoderate reason. Instead, de facto Afghan authorities stressed the request to behaviour vaccinations for children from tract to tract and mosque to mosque.

In a study released past month, an autarkic monitoring committee of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative believed that the Taliban’s enactment had stemmed from their “administration’s concerns astir covert surveillance activities.” The study quoted Taliban officials arsenic explaining that their enactment is surviving successful Kandahar and has concerns astir their security.

Kandahar, regarded arsenic the unofficial superior of Afghanistan nether Taliban rule, is wherever the militant group’s reclusive ultimate leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, resides and governs the state done his decrees based connected his strict mentation of Islam.

The Taliban main has banned astir Afghan women from nationalist and backstage assemblage workplaces and barred girls from receiving an acquisition beyond the sixth grade.

WHO officials accidental eradicating polio successful Afghanistan requires broad integration of ample migrant populations into the vaccination program. They accidental it is besides important to scope retired to groups that garbage vaccination and found a pistillate nationalist wellness workforce dedicated to the polio inaugural to tackle aggregate challenges facing polio-eradication efforts successful the impoverished country.