ISLAMABAD: The International Monitoring Board has appreciated Pakistan’s progress in controlling the poliovirus despite complex challenges faced by the immunisation programme.
The appreciation came at a virtual meeting of the IMB that was attended by IMB Chair Sir Liam Donaldson and its members, and all international experts in polio eradication and public health.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan, in his inaugural speech at the meeting, said that despite the complex challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan is optimistic about controlling polio before the end of next year.
Earlier in August, the IMB in its assessment of the global polio eradication programme warned that if Pakistan does not adopt transformative measures to eradicate poliovirus from the country in the next six months, the situation could become dire. The 18th report of the IMB, which comprises global experts, is hopeful that Pakistan still has a chance to root out the crippling disease. “There is a new impetus for change and for rapid progress to be made,” it highlights.
“If that does not happen in the next six months, if those changes do not get rolling, the wheels will come off the Pakistan bus.”
Citing modelling data, the report notes that Pakistan is at the risk of wild poliovirus cases reaching 500 by the end of 2020 and vaccine-derived poliovirus cases reaching 1,000.
