Polio warning

The announcement by the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the WHO, that travel restrictions on Pakistan are to be extended for three months, sends out a strong warning. The action, which requires Pakistanis to carry polio vaccination cards while traveling, comes following a WHO assessment of increasing polio cases in Pakistan. While the country seemed to be moving closer to its goal of zero polio cases till 2018, this changed when 12 cases were reported that year marking an increase over the previous year. The situation for 2019 has been worse with 20 cases already reported in the first five months of the year. Most of the cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from where eight cases have emerged. In a disturbing development, the presence of the virus has also been detected from samples taken from all major areas of Karachi; this is the first time polio has been detected from samples at such a large scale in Karachi. Meanwhile, the federal government’s focal person for polio eradication Babar bin Atta has firmly denied any setback to the anti-polio campaign and said cases may rise to 50 this year but polio would be wiped out by 2022. Even as he spoke, there were initial reports of more polio cases being reported in the country, suggesting that his figure of 50 for the year could possibly be exceeded. The WHO is also concerned about the continued presence of the wild polio virus in the country and its presence in environmental samples.

Experts say the increase in cases suggests Pakistan will continue to struggle to join all other countries in the world – except Afghanistan – on the list of countries that have eradicated polio. The last polio vaccination campaign earlier this year was handicapped by fake news reports placed on social media suggesting that the vaccine was unsafe or hazardous for children. A federal government spokesperson has said that new communication methods are being devised to defeat such misreporting. The Punjab government has enlisted the assistance of mosque imams, who have assured the provincial chief minister that they would be happy to support efforts against polio. It is important that persons who can influence public opinion be brought in to challenge anti-vaccination information presented over both social and traditional media.

A countrywide effort will need to be launched to place the polio eradication initiative back on the rails. The federal government and each of the provincial governments must consider what has gone wrong and why a sudden upsurge in cases has been reported. Making Pakistan polio free is important not only to the people of the country but also to the international standing of the country. Damage was done in the past when travel restrictions were first put in place. Since then, as the result of a massive campaign, there has been progress since 2009 in wiping out polio. It is important that this be sustained and taken forward and obstacles removed. The WHO warning is a signal to us for greater effort and greater commitment. We owe it to the children of our country to ensure that each child can be safeguarded against this preventable disease.