Pakistan Sees 71 Polio Cases in 2024
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Synopsis
Pakistan reported 71 instances of wild poliovirus type 1 in 2024, prompting intensified vaccination efforts. The first nationwide campaign of 2025 is scheduled from February 3 to February 9, urging parents to vaccinate children under five.
Key Takeaways
- 71 cases of WPV1 confirmed in 2024.
- Majority of cases from Balochistan and Sindh.
- Intensified vaccination drives underway.
- Nationwide campaign set for February 3-9, 2025.
- Polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Islamabad, Jan 15 (NationPress) The National Institute of Health (NIH) has announced that 71 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) have been recorded in 2024. The latest confirmed case involved a boy from the Jacobabad district in Sindh, with symptoms emerging on December 27, 2024, as reported by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication.
The breakdown of cases shows that 27 were reported from Balochistan, 21 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
In response to the rise in WPV1 cases, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has ramped up its initiatives. The NIH confirmed that numerous vaccination campaigns are held each year, directly targeting households, as reported by Xinhua.
To further these efforts, Pakistan is set to initiate its first nationwide polio vaccination drive of 2025 from February 3 to February 9. The NIH is urging parents to ensure all children under the age of five receive the vaccine during this period.
The World Health Organisation describes poliomyelitis (polio) as a highly contagious viral disease primarily affecting children under five. It spreads mainly through person-to-person contact via the faecal-oral route or occasionally through contaminated food or water, multiplying in the intestine and potentially invading the nervous system, resulting in paralysis.
In 1988, a resolution was adopted by the World Health Assembly to eradicate polio globally, launching the Global Polio Eradication Initiative led by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Since 1988, the number of wild poliovirus cases has plummeted by more than 99%, from an estimated 350,000 cases in over 125 endemic countries to just 6 reported cases in 2021. Among the three strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2, and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999, and type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, wild poliovirus type 1 is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
