Number of polio cases reported from country this year reaches 68
A child diagnosed with virus in Dera Ismael Khan
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An astounding increase has been noticed in the number of polio cases reported from different parts of the country in the year, 2024 as 68th case of the virus was reported on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Regional Reference Laboratory housed in the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed that the new case had been reported from Dera Ismael Khan from where 10 children had been diagnosed with the virus so far.
Similarly, 27 cases of the disease had so far been reported from Balochistan, 20 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 19 from Sindh, and one each from Islamabad and Punjab, informed the institute.
On Tuesday, 24News TV channel had reported that one more case of polio had been confirmed in Pakistan, bringing the total number of cases of the virus reported this year from across the country to 65.
The latest case was reported from Qila Abdullah, Balochistan where a one-and-a-half-year-old child had been diagnosed with the disease. So far 27 cases have been reported from the city so far this year.
Only a few days ago, the virus was detected in a child in Jacobabad, Sindh.
According to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), so far four cases have been reported from the city during the ongoing year.
Pakistan is one of the two countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, where the number of polio cases has often remained high.
However, later their number dropped considerably until the recent surge, which prompted international health organisations to show concern.
Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme explains that polio is a “paralyzing” disease with “no cure” and “the completion of the routine vaccination for all children under the age of five” just provides them “high immunity against this terrible disease.”
Successive governments have launched launched multiple vaccination drives including the one that kicked off last week which aims at inoculating about 44 million children across the country.
According to Prime Minister's Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq, around 400,000 polio workers across 143 districts of the country will visit every household to administer polio drops to children under five years of age.
Reporter: Babar Shahzad Turk