Polio is not yet rampaging on the streets of Pakistan, but it is proving singularly resistant to eradication. That is the goal set by the World Health Organization. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where infections take place, though there have been some cases in the Gaz Strip ever since the Israeli invasion has disrupted public health among other things. Polio has been eliminated from everywhere else in the world, except Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. Nigeri reporter a fresh outbreak last year, with more than 50 cases of infection by a wild strain of the poliovirus. There should be equal concern in Pakistan, for the wild poliovirus has been reported found all over the country. Polio is a particularly persistent disease, with the first cases in 25 years detected in the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli invaders have been cajoled into allowing the vaccination of 640,000 children. Negotiations are now on for their re-vaccination.
One of the most common solutions to the spread of polio is vaccination. It is a viral disease, and thus cannot be treated. Its ill-effects, which include crippling the patient, can only be mitigated. Prevention is better than cure. However, the story has been spread that the vaccine is harmful, that it is a conspiracy against Muslims, and because of this religious sentiment, it has become necessary for vaccinators to be escorted by police protection. With more than 200 polio team workers reported killed up to last year, there is clearly strong resistance. So far, in Pakistan, there has been nothing like the breakdown as in the Gaza, but the recent reporting of two more cases from Jacobabad, and one each from Malir and Dera Ismail Khan, are disturbing.
The present government brought back ex-Senator Ayesha Farooq Reza as PM’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication, but that has apparently not been enough. The Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination of the previous PML(N) government, Saira Afzal Tarar, could not reach the National Assembly, and the portfolio is held by the Prime Minister, who is apparently not giving this serious problem enough attention. Pakistan was the last country from which smallpox was eliminated in 1977, which was also the first victory by Mankind over a viral disease, achieved by mass vaccination. It is now poised to be the last country to harbour polio. Its elimination will require a redoubling of efforts.
