‘Negative social media content undermining fight against polio’

KARACHI : Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Sharmila Farooqui said on Saturday Pakistan had reported 84 polio cases in 2020 out of which 22 cases had been reported from Sindh, 26 from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 14 from Punjab.

The country reported 147 polio cases in 2019, 12 in 2018, eight in 2017, 20 in 2016 and 54 in 2015.

“There are more than 3,000 polio centres across the Sindh province through which the Sindh Health Department is providing service to polio patients. Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects children, particularly under the age of five years.

The poliovirus is transmitted through contaminated water and food. This disease spreads from person to person.

The poliovirus attacks the nervous system which causes paralysis mostly in the lower limbs of children and it is often permanent,” Farooqui said while addressing a seminar in Karachi.

She said Sindh was the province most affected by Covid-19, and, as a result, essential immunisation coverage also suffered. The second wave of Covid-19 was under way, which was feared to be more adverse, but despite this, the essential services of routine immunisation and polio campaigns would continue, she added.

The Pakistan Peoples Party legislator said Sindh conducted an anti-polio campaign in Karachi in July 2020, followed by regular campaigns in August, September and October and then in November and December.

According to a report, she said, in October 2020, Sindh achieved 97 per cent overall coverage, with 93 per cent coverage in Karachi during the anti-polio campaign, but the level of refusals still raised concern.

In the August 2020 campaign, there were 120,000 refusals in Karachi, which reduced to 102,000 in September and 82,000 in October.

The MPA said that the provincial health team was forging alliances on polio with major political leaders and macro-level influencers across the political parties, with a specific focus on active involvement of Pashtun influencers.

“Political and tribal leaders have been mapped and engaged and are now supporting polio campaigns.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Islamic Medical Association, which is now actively highlighting the importance of immunisation and dispelling myths and rumours in the community about polio vaccine.”

She said that mainly on religious grounds and due to some false notions, people, particularly Pakhtuns, in some areas of Karachi, including Korangi and Baldia, were reluctant to administer polio drops to their children.

However, she added, the Sindh government was holding meetings with religious and other political parties’ leaders to end these misconceptions, which were because of negative social media content which had played havoc with the programme.

Negative videos on WhatsApp and Facebook had heavily contributed to the misconceptions about polio drops, she added.

The Sindh government was striving hard to make polio campaigns more comprehensive to get 100 per cent results and that was why the health sector had been made its top three priorities, she said.