90pc polio cases in Pakistan ‘imported’ from Afghanistan: health minister
As Pakistan continues to witness an increase in poliovirus, Interim Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan has said 90 per cent of cases in the country were “imported from Afghanistan”.
His remarks come after two more samples tested positive for the poliovirus in the country, just a day after this year’s third case surfaced.
According to an official at the polio laboratory of the National Institute of Health (NIH), sewage samples collected from Dera Bugti, in Balochistan, and Peshawar had tested positive for the virus. Both viruses, found in sewage samples, are similar to Afghanistan’s poliovirus.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the polio virus remains endemic. According to authorities, the transmission of wild poliovirus has been restricted to seven districts in the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, namely Tank, Bannu, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper, South Waziristan Lower, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat.
In a report released in August, the World Health Organisation said that since January 2021, all reported cases were from the seven polio-endemic districts in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier this week, the total number of cases in Pakistan this year increased to five after three new cases were reported in Peshawar, Bannu and Balochistan’s Dera Bugti.
The government has launched a five-day polio vaccination drive targeting around 44 million children across the country. Approximately 350,000 polio workers would participate in the drive to administer anti-polio vaccine drops to children aged 0-5 years.
Speaking about the rising number of polio cases in an interview on Dawn News programme ‘Doosra Rukh’, which will air at 7pm tonight, the health minister said: “Our surveillance is optimal.
“Of the 34 samples that we have received, 90pc have come from Afghanistan … our own are even less than 10pc,” he said.
Dr Jan highlighted that this was dangerous and stressed the need for vaccination. “Otherwise, the imported virus will keep circulating and eventually become our own,” he warned.
Talking about the recent cases reported in KP, the minister said they were the result of refusal to administer polio vaccines.
During the interview, Dr Jan also said that the government has commenced efforts to end the business of fake medicines. He stated that a system for checking barcodes of medicines had been prepared but there were certain challenges pertaining to its implementation.
According to the minister, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and the Health Department were playing their part in preventing the sale of fake medicines.
“There are some lapses … but we have begun efforts to eliminate [the network of fake medicines] but the solution is to empower the public,” he said, adding that crackdowns had begun on the malpractices.
In response to a question regarding the health ministry’s role in the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif — who is said to come back to the country on Oct 21 — Dr Jan said it was a political matter.
“We will 100pc follow what the law and Constitution says,” he added.