Monitoring Desk
Pakistan’s health officials have confirmed 22 polio cases this year so far. However, in the current year, Japan government has issued a grant worth $3.62 million to Pakistan for the procurement of essential oral polio vaccine.
As per details, in the current year (2024) so far, 22 cases of polio have been reported in the country and out of these 22 cases 15 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 4 from Sindh, and one case each from KP, Punjab, and Islamabad. A 30-month old baby boy from Balochistan has been reported as the latest case from the said province. Pakistan’s National Institute of Health and Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication have confirmed the presence of wild polio-virus type 1 in the child.
The Government of Pakistan runs Polio Eradication Programme with the help of public-private partnership. Notable partners of the Government of Pakistan around the world are World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Rotary International, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his recent foreign tour has met Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation founder Bill Gates on Thursday, September 26, 2024. During the meeting in New York, Shehbaz discussed and appreciated the support offered by the Gates Foundation for Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to ensure the complete eradication of polio from the country.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq has expressed concerns over the recent polio situation in Pakistan and has also urged the parents to understand the depth of the issue and play their role in safeguarding their children.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan is one of those two countries which still have polio cases. Our neighboring country India was officially certified as polio-free on March 27, 2014.
