The world observed World Polio Day on the 24th of October to reiterate the commitment to ending polio from all corners of the world. Pakistan along with Afghanistan is the only region left with poliovirus. On world polio day, the nation also showed its commitment towards the complete end of polio in Pakistan by holding awareness walks and conducting meetings at a government level.
The Chief Ministers of all the provinces and other government officials, along with other political figures expressed the resolve to end polio from Pakistan. Meanwhile, an anti-polio drive is also underway in a few areas of KP.
This year the theme of world polio day was ‘One Day. One Focus: Ending Polio – delivering on our promise of a polio-free world. On the occasion, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and ROTARY reaffirmed their commitment to continue delivering on their promise of a polio-free world for current and future generations.
In a joint statement issued on World Polio Day, WHO-UNICEF-ROTARY stated that in 1988, the world committed to eradicating wild poliovirus, and today, five out of six WHO regions are certified free of wild poliovirus, with wild poliovirus reported only from two endemic countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Two cases of wild poliovirus type 1 were reported globally as of mid-October 2021 compared with 125 for the same period in 2020, the statement further read.
Though Pakistan is making efforts to end polio from the country. Since the official launch of the Polio Eradication Program in 1994, Pakistan has made significant progress towards stopping poliovirus transmission and boosting children immunity through safe vaccination and is heading to achieve polio-free status as no case was reported from Punjab, KP, Sindh, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan this year.
Besides these entire why does the virus still exist in Pakistan? One reason might be the misconceptions that have been injected into the minds of the masses about vaccination. A very common of all is the fertility debate. A rumor was spread polio vaccine is a threat to fertility which is totally a baseless thing.
Now to make Pakistan polio-free, besides carrying out immunizations campaigns and fulfilling other medical requirements it is important to ensure the provision of social and behavioral change communication support to enhance vaccines’ acceptance.
Government, media, civil society, and every responsible citizen of the country must educate the masses about the importance of polio vaccination to end this virus in Pakistan.
