Jump in polio cases in Pakistan stokes fears of resurgence
Pakistan is experiencing a surge in polio cases, with 32 reported so far this year, doubling in just a month, raising concerns of a resurgence after a significant decline in 2022. The majority of new cases have emerged in Balochistan, where violence and vaccination refusals hinder immunization efforts, despite ongoing campaigns supported by the UN and the Gates Foundation.
- Health
- DPA
- Published Date: 04:11 | 10 October 2024
- Modified Date: 04:40 | 10 October 2024
Pakistan has witnessed a rapid increase in new polio cases in recent weeks, stoking fears of a resurgence of the crippling disease after a sharp decline last year, officials said on Thursday.
The new polio cases from the South Asian country doubled to 32 so far this year in a month with numbers going up particularly in the volatile south-western province of Balochistan near the Afghan border, according to the official data.
Pakistan managed to reduce new polio cases to only six last year - down from a peak of 147 in 2019 - with the help of a door-to-door vaccination drive jointly funded and aided by the UN and the Gates Foundation.
"But once again this year has been a huge disappointment," said Doctor Nadeem Shah, an official at the country's polio eradication programme.
Half of the 32 new cases this year have come from Balochistan where many parents refused vaccinations and health workers can't reach communities due to violence in some regions, Shah added.
Pakistan undertakes periodic immunization drives, but campaign workers are often targeted by the Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda and affiliated Taliban.
The militants and some Islamic clerics claim that the polio vaccination campaign is a ploy by the West to sterilize Muslims.