Operation Zarb-e-Azb helped purge polio in tribal areas: health experts

Polio eradication in Pakistan in sight

PARIS: International health experts have said that operation Zarb-e-Azb against extremists have helped in the goal of eradication of polio from Pakistan as areas like North Waziristan have become accessible to polio workers.

Pakistani experts and professionals attended a conference here, arranged by Sanofi Pasteur and Rotary International, to marked World Polio Day which discussed the progress that has been made in Pakistan in the last 16 months after as a result of the operation against militants.

The participants heard that through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the world’s largest public-private health partnership, the disease has been 99% eliminated and in few months there will not be a single polio case in Pakistan. Health experts opined that as a result of the operation against militants, access is now possible in tribal areas which remained unruly for decades and therefore inaccessible to health and polio workers. They said that operation against militants, especially in North Waziristan, played a decisive role in bringing down the number of polio cases.

According to statistics, in less than a year, polio cases in Fata alone have dropped to just seven in 2015 from 179 during the same period in 2014. Nationwide only 15 cases were reported last year whereas the numbers were double in the previous year and by next year it will be completely eradicated.

Major stakeholders who attended the conference recognised the decisive role of vaccinators on the ground, especially in countries like Pakistan where polio workers were attacked and faced threats to their lives for doing their job against the crippling disease. Latif, who worked in Karachi and now lives in Peshwar was given the “hero award” for his tremendous work against polio. Four other Pakistani professionals were also given “hero awards” for doing an excellent job against polio.

Pakistan’s ambassador to France Moeenul Haq said that Pakistani authorities are committed against the infectious disease of polio and a comprehensive national action plan exists. He said that international health organisations and Pakistan worked together against this disease.

Dr Mufti Zubair Wadood said that awareness on polio in Pakistan has increased. He said that public health and preventive medicine is the most effective way of fighting disease and morbidity.

The participants heard that polio is caused by a virus that invades the nervous system, polio can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. Polio can strike at any age, but children under five are most at risk. Today, polio caused by wild polioviruses survives only in parts of the last three countries considered endemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO): Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Estimates suggest more than 350,000 people were paralysed by polio worldwide in 1988; in more than 120 endemic countries. Since the beginning of 2016, 27 cases were reported in only three countries - Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Michel Zaffran, Director for polio eradication at the World Health Organisation declared: "There is no doubt that right now we have the best conditions in history to finish this fight. But at the same time, key challenges must be overcome. All children in the remaining infected areas must be reached and fully immunized and the international community must follow the strong example set by Rotary to rapidly mobilise all needed financial resources to complete the job.”

"Rotary members worldwide have managed to create community centers and draw the attention of politicians," noted Christian Michaud, coordinator of "Polio Plus" France and Maghreb for Rotary.

Speaking to The News, Latif Syed, who won the ‘Hero Award’ for being a polio worker and survivor, said: "I want the children of my country to be healthy and protected from polio. I have participated in this fight from the beginning and I want to continue to the end, to see a polio-free Pakistan."

Azra, a female "health worker" in South Punjab who has provided polio vaccinations for 20 years, said that she will continue her work despite difficulties. Azra said that nothing can alter her passion for her work at the forefront of the fight against polio.