Health officials in Pakistan have launched a major effort to immunise more than 33 million children under five against polio, a debilitating disease mainly affecting children.
Starting on 22 January and lasting three days, over 85,000 vaccination teams nationwide are being deployed to administer the oral polio vaccine (OPV) as part of collaborative efforts between the government of Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
4 LANDE I FOKUS
According to WHO, the world’s success in eradicating polio depends on four countries where the virus remains endemic – India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In 2007, there were 31 confirmed cases of polio in Pakistan, including 11 in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 12 in Sindh, seven in Balochistan and one in the country’s populous Punjab Province.
FORDOMME
In addition to ongoing opposition by some residents of conservative NWFP to have their children vaccinated (believing the vaccine drops make them impotent), growing insecurity throughout the country is fast becoming a major concern.
In the last round of polio campaigns in 2007, over 135,000 children were reportedly missed in Pakistan’s now volatile Swat Valley after clashes between militants and security forces in the area.
Kilde: www.irinnews.org
