KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that due to political commitment and focused efforts, particularly in the high-risk union councils of the province, no new case of polio has emerged since July 2020.
This he said on Monday while talking to media just after inaugurating a seven-day province-wide polio camping at Sobhraj Hospital by giving oral drops to children. Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Qasim Siraj Soomro, Secretary Health Zulfiqar Shah, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon and EOC officers.
The Emergency Operation Center (EOC) for polio has launched a province-wide polio campaign from 13-19 December, as a part of the national immunization days, to give oral polio drops to over nine million children of under 5-year across the province, the chief minister said and added the campaign would be conducted in all 30 districts of the province and out of the target of over 9 million children, more than two million live in Karachi.
Mr Shah said that because of the pandemic anti-polio campaigns, routine immunization could not be carried out from March to July, 2020, therefore an immunity gap in children has developed. “This gap is being addressed through back-to-back monthly polio campaigns since August 2020 and we have controlled the spread of the virus throughout 2021,” he said and added. “Thanks to these campaigns Sindh has not reported a single case of polio since July 2020 and environment samples are also coming in negative which is quite encouraging.”
The CM said that the communities living in the super high-risk Union Councils [for polio] needed more services through new initiatives. “We have installed water filtration plants, experimental dispensaries, model EPI centers, mother and child health facilities among other initiatives in such union councils,” he said.
Murad Ali Shah said that while dealing with the pandemic, we must also deal with childhood immunization to prevent childhood diseases and added the benefits of vaccination were clear as frequent campaigns have significantly reduced the burden of polio across the country. He said that children could be saved from childhood diseases like polio through vaccination and he urged the media to raise awareness among the people. The CM said that Pakistan was one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with Afghanistan and has so far reported a total of one polio case in 2021.
The Pakistan Pediatric Association, Pakistan Medical Islamic Medical Association, medical experts across the world, as well as prominent religious scholars in Pakistan, and across the region endorse the oral polio vaccine as the safest and most effective for not only preventing polio but also eradicating it from the environment, Mr Shah said and added during the polio campaign launched in September, the government has achieved more than 98 percent coverage.
Murad Ali Shah said that the polio vaccine was the safest and most effective way to save children from polio. He urged parents to cooperate with the teams when they visit their homes. “Remember! polio has no cure but can be easily prevented through vaccination,” the CM said and added therefore the health department was sending workers door to door to eradicate polio. He disclosed that this time during the polio campaign Covid vaccinations would also be provided in selected districts such as seven districts of Karachi, Sanghar, Hyderabad and Khairpur.