Pakistan reports the third incidence of polio in 2023.
In light of the third case from the same union of council of Bannu, the health minister advises parents to ensure that their children receive the polio vaccine as part of the ongoing national polio campaign.
On October 3, 2023, Islamabad There have now been three confirmed instances of polio in Pakistan this year when a kid in Bannu contracted wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and became paralysed.
The 18-month-old girl from the Ghaura Baka Khel union council of Bannu is the affected kid, according to information released on Tuesday by the Pakistan Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health. She began to experience paralysis on September 13.
According to Dr. Nadeem Jan, the federal minister of health, “This child, like all children, deserved to have a healthy and meaningful life. It is very terrible that she will now have to live with a condition that is completely preventable impairment for the rest of her life.
The three kids paralysed by the poliovirus this year all come from the same UC in Bannu, he continued. “We are actively collaborating with UN partner organisations to enhance general healthcare in the polio-endemic southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We are actively striving to strengthen immunity, raise nutritional standards, and improve sanitation and cleanliness.
The minister added that there is presently a national polio vaccination campaign, and that parents and other adults must be aware of the threat posed by polio and take steps to safeguard their children from this fatal disease by getting them vaccinated.
The federal health secretary also asked parents to welcome the volunteers carrying life-saving vaccination to their doorstep and to open their doors to vaccine providers. He declared, “As a nation, we must unite and eradicate this threat in order to provide a future free from polio to our children.
No human cases have been documented outside of the endemic southern KP region since January 2021, according to Dr. Shahzad Baig, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, and virus transmission is still restricted to this area.
“A thorough case investigation will be launched right away to identify the source of the virus and to promptly plan immunisation responses,” he continued.
Three children in Pakistan were paralysed by polio in 2023, while 20 cases were noted there in 2022 following an epidemic in southern KP.
