Punjab forecasts no polio case by 2017

LAHORE

Punjab Health Department has indicated that polio disease will be eradicated by 2017 as it aims to withdraw Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) by 2019-2020.

“Currently, Pakistan is battling with Polio-virus 1 (P1) as Polio-virus 2 (P2) has been eradicated since 1998 and last case of Polio-virus 3 (P3) was reported in 2012,” said Dr Munir Ahmad, Director EPI, Punjab, while speaking at a media sensitisation workshop on “Routine Immunisation and Introduction of IPV” organised in collaboration with Expanded Programme of Immunisation, Punjab and UNICEF here at a local hotel on Monday.

Dr Munir Ahmad said that Punjab Health Department had set a forecast of achieving zero polio cases in 2017, get polio eradication certification in 2018 and stop OPV in 2019-2020. He made these claims on the basis of appearance of only two cases of polio (with origins from Quetta and Karachi) in Punjab in the year 2015 due to comprehensive anti-polio campaign after reporting of 306 cases of polio a year before in 2014 in the country.

He said that Punjab Health Department had launched Inactivated/Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV) in July 2015 and 1.3 million children had been immunised through IPV till December 2015.

“GAVI has committed to donate IPV till 2018,” he informed, adding that Health Department aimed to target P1 and P3 by administering IPV in April this year. “The Rotavirus vaccine against diarrhoea will be included in EPI programme from January 2017,” he added.

He said that IPV, which creates more immunity than OPV, had been administered a single dose at the age of 14 weeks. However, he said that the IPV would be enhanced to two doses, which is to be administered at the age of six weeks and 14 weeks in the next year. He made it clear that IPV cannot be included in mass anti-polio campaign as it has to be administered on children of the age of 14 weeks only.

He expressed concern over missed children during mass campaigns due to various reasons, including flat refusal, misconceptions and migration, etc. On an average, he said, 20,000 children remain unimmunised out of total target of 18 million children during mass campaign. “The missed children remain a threat of spread of polio-virus,” he regretted. Therefore, he emphasised to create awareness among the people to get IPV administered to their children of the age of 14 weeks.

He quoted the examples of recent epidemic of diphtheria, which affected at least 139 children and caused death of 32 patients, adding that most of these children, aged between 5 and 12 years, were either not vaccinated or had received fewer doses than required. On the other hand, he said that Punjab Health Department had successfully controlled measles through effective campaign as only 17 cases of measles were reported in 2015.

He also regretted that there was no law to make it binding on people to get their children vaccinated against various diseases.

He further said that the entire vaccination course on a single child cost around Rs4,000 against cost of Rs25,000 from private sector, which had been made available to children free-of-cost under EPI programme.

The Resource Person Wajih Akhtar, however, informed that Senate of Pakistan has recently passed a “Bill on Mandatory Vaccination” for Islamabad, which awaits National Assembly’s nod for its promulgation.

“If any bill is passed by National Assembly and two provincial assemblies then it becomes a law binding on all citizens across the country,” he informed.