Punjab loses polio-free status; Karachi too reports a case

Islamabad
The province of Punjab, which has been polio-free since January this year, lost its cherished status Friday with a case being reported from Chakwal. Another polio case confirmed from Karachi the same day has now taken Pakistan’s national polio count to 38 so far this year, sources told this scribe.
Even though details about the two cases were immediately not available, it is learnt that both the affected children — a boy from Chakwal and an 18-month old girl from Shafique Colony, Gulbery, UC 8, Karachi, were fully vaccinated. Yet, despite their strong vaccination status, both children have been attacked by the crippling virus.
Every new case of polio is a matter of grievous concern for Pakistan, now that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has removed even Nigeria from the list of polio endemic countries. On September 25, WHO announced that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. For the first time ever, Nigeria succeeded in interrupting transmission of wild poliovirus, and by doing so, brought the country and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.
Nigeria earned its polio-free status through sheer hard work and determination; not a single case of wild poliovirus was reported in the country since July 24, 2014, and all laboratory data confirmed that 12 months had passed without any new cases emerging in the country. Here in Pakistan, the only province that had been polio-free in 2015 has also lost its coveted position, with a new case emerging, when there were hardly three months for the year to close.
Moreover, the relative decline in the number of polio cases in Pakistan this year is being attributed by polio experts as “the fruit of last year’s Sehat Ka Insaf strategy.” Serious doubts are being expressed over the declining pattern continuing beyond 2015. “This decline is a temporary phenomenon resulting from implementation of last year’s strategic plan in KP. Real progress will only be reflected by the total number of cases in 2016,” a polio expert analysed.
With the way things are moving, Pakistan stands the risk of ending up being the only remaining reservoir of polio in the world.