KP reports first polio case of the year

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday reported the first polio case of 2017, according to provincial Health Department.

The first polio victim

was reported from Lakki Marwat district where Zonaira, daughter of Fareedullah, tested positive polio virus at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.

Zonaira is two years old and is the resident of Tajazai Union Council of Lakki Marwat district. With the first case in KP, the number of polio cases reached five in the country.

The officials said the child was administered polio drops and that’s why she didn’t suffer from any residual weakness and was able to walk like other normal children.

Though some officials, associated with other teams working for polio eradication, claimed that the first case was detected due to the strong surveillance system that has been put in place in the province by the health department, it is an embarrassment for national and international funded organisations.

The government has already declared polio emergency and diverted millions of rupees to polio eradication and employed hundreds of people to do the job.

The government and different other organisations working on polio were lavishly spending money and wanted to come up with a polio-free Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa this year but it didn’t happen.

Also, there has been a considerable decline in refusals either by parents or religious segments in the province.