- Minister announces 415,000 polio workers will participate in a nationwide anti-polio campaign from April 21
- Says polio exists in Karachi, but reason why people are not being affected is prevention
KARACHI: Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal on Sunday revealed that large majority of 85-90 percent of the families refusing to vaccinate their children against poliovirus belongs Karachi alone.
“Currently, 44,000 families across the country have refused to vaccinate their children against polio and of them 34,000 families reside in Karachi alone,” Mustafa Kamal claimed while addressing a press conference here in Karachi on Sunday.
The health minister lamented that of those 34,000 families refusing to vaccinate their children, 27,000 were from District East.
“That is a huge figure of 85-90pc. This is a dilemma… and we need to make serious efforts to address this situation,” he emphasized.
“I had meetings with five MPAs and two MNAs from District East and discussed with them the vaccination system and how to make future campaigns 100pc successful”, the health minister stated.
“I want to tell everyone in Pakistan that polio exists in Karachi, but the reason why people are not being affected is because of prevention,” he emphasised. “Since the virus is everywhere, if children aren’t vaccinated for whatever reason and contract the virus, they will grow up physically disabled.
“People from the left and the right will tell you ‘Don’t give them the drops’, but I am here to tell you that not including your children is criminal,” he maintained.
The health minister highlighted that there is a polio drive ongoing in neighbouring Afghanistan and lamented that Kabul has a more comprehensive immunisation programme than Islamabad.
“This is the first time that a simultaneous polio vaccination campaign is happening in both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “The Taliban are sending teams door-to-door to vaccinate children — their programme is more comprehensive than ours.
“Afghanistan is vaccinating children and they will eradicate the virus within a few years. God forbid we remain the only country in the world with polio. Please ignore any propaganda and administer polio drops to your children.”
The minister announced that 415,000 polio workers will participate in a nationwide polio vaccination drive on April 21 and urged citizens to cooperate with workers administering the vaccines.
“Please respect them and do not disturb them, they are trying to protect your children’s future,” he urged.
Responding to a question from a reporter, Kamal said that the government has “multiple avenues” to act against families who refuse to immunise their children but would refrain from using them.
Environmental samples from 20 districts were tested positive
In a related development on Sunday, environmental samples from 20 districts were tested positive for poliovirus.
A total of 60 environmental samples were collected from 51 districts were tested for poliovirus by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health.
According to officials, the latest weekly environmental testing, conducted between March 5 and 19, revealed the presence of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) in sewage samples from multiple locations.
The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio confirmed that sewage samples in three provinces showed signs of contamination. Positive samples were reported from nine districts in Balochistan, six in Punjab, and five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Balochistan, the affected districts include Quetta, Kech, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Pishin, Loralai, Dakki, Naseerabad, and Osta Muhammad, NEOC stated.
In Punjab, the virus was found in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, D.G. Khan, and Rahim Yar Khan. Meanwhile in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, poliovirus was detected in environmental samples collected from Peshawar, Bannu, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, South Waziristan, and Lower Dir.
On the other hand, 35 sewerage samples from 31 districts tested negative for the virus. Sources said that this marks the 13th instance this year when poliovirus has been detected in environmental samples.
Pakistan alongside Afghanistan is one of the last two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.
