CM Murad Ali Shah annoyed at emergence of 14 polio cases in Sindh this year

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, expressing his displeasure and anguish over the emergence of 14 polio cases in the province during 2019, has directed the health department to launch a campaign with new strategy and vigour by involving UC councilors and members of the provincial assembly of different parties.

He has also issued directives for administering polio drops to every person at transit points such as Jacobabad, the Mochko post and the Karachi Toll Plaza. He has also declared 2020 the year of polio-free Sindh for which he assigned the task to all the relevant departments and divisional and district administratons as well as to the municipal administrations.

He issued these directives and guidelines on Friday while presiding over a meeting of the Provincial Taskforce for Polio Eradication at the CM House. The meeting was attended by Minister for Health Dr Azra Pechuho, Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, Shahnaz Wazir Ali of SZBIST and others.

The chief minister said that the emergence of 14 cases in the province in 2019 had undone all the efforts the provincial government had taken so far. “We had 30 cases in 2014 and after that the provincial government with its effective campaign controlled the situation and the cases started declining,” he said and said the cases in 2015 were 14, in 2016 eight, in 2017 two and in 2018 one case, but in 2019 we had returned to the worst situation, which was somewhere between 2014 and 2015.

Polio cases

The chief minister was told that out 14 polio cases in 2019, six were detected in Karachi Division and eight in other divisions of the province.

The cases reported in Karachi include Safia of Lyari who belongs to Quetta. Nisar of Gadap is a Pashtun as is Zakia of Orangi Town. Manahil of Orangi is Seraiki-speaking and belongs to Multan. Ahmed of Jacob Line is a Pashtun and originally belongs to Hyderabad. Abdullah of Keamari is a Baloch child and belongs to Landhi.

The chief minister said the cases detected in Karachi were among those children who originally belonged to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The cases reported from other divisions of the province include Fiza from Dokri, District Larkana, who is Seraiki-speaking and was originally settled in Gapad, Karachi; Memona from Hala, Hyderabad, who is a Pashtun and belongs to Gadap; Rubab of Latifabad is Urdu-speaking and belongs to Hyderabad; Jamshed, a Pashtun of Kori; Kamran is Sindhi-speaking of Sujawal and is settled in Hyderabad; Bisma of Sakrand is a Pashtun and belongs to Gadap; Fazila of Jamshoro is Sindhi-speaking; Hasnain of Dokri, District Larkana, is Seraiki-speaking and originally belongs to SITE, Karachi.

The chief minister said that the cases as analysed by him through the data shared with him showed that the majority of the cases were of Pashtun children and they belong to Gadap. “This indicates that the Pahstun families have their visitors from KPK and Balochistan, who might be carrying polio virus,” he said and added that the worst vulnerable and affected area of the province was Gadap.

He directed the EPI to give special attention to Gadap in terms of cleanliness in the area, provision of clean drinking water and proper cleaning of the sewerage system.

He directed the minister for local government, the Karachi mayor and deputy commissioners to identify high-risk union councils so that their services in respect of water, sanitation and cleanliness could be improved.

Polio virus

The chief minister was told that polio virus presence had been detected in Gadap Town, Gulshan Town, Baldia Town, Landhi Town, SITE Town, Korangi, Liaqatabad Town and Saddar Town.

The polio virus presence has also been found in Sukkur City, New Sukkur, different areas of Jacobabad and Hyderabad, Massan Mohalla of Dadu and different localities of Kambar.

The chief minister directed the deputy commissioners, commissioners and municipal administrations to take necessary measures for cleanliness in the areas pointed out by the EPI administration.

Coverage

The polio vaccine coverage in the province has been recorded at 96 percent by administering anti-polio vaccine to 5,304,135 million in the province, including 1,349,639 in Karachi and 3,954,496 in other divisions of the province.

Missed children

During the special polio campaign, the number of missed children has been recorded at 200,412 in the province, of them 173,521 in Karachi Division and 26,891 children in other divisions of the province. The reasons are said to be different such as misconception about the polio vaccine, religious matters and some demands for some kinds of incentives, while the other category of missed children was of those reported sick, including high fever or seasonal illnesses.

Next campaign

The next anti-polio campaign would start from December 16 to 22, 2019, in all 29 districts, 1,125 union councils of the province. In the campaign, all 9,087,234 children would be directed and Vitamin A would also be administered to children along with the polio vaccine.