First case of polio revealed in Pakistan in 2023

Islamabad: The first case of polio has been registered in Pakistan in 2023. A 3-year-old child has been found a victim of this serious disease in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This information has been given in a news that came in the media on Saturday. According to reports, the matter has come to the fore at a time when delegations from the French Agency for Development (FAD) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are in Pakistan to review efforts to eradicate the disease.

Pakistan’s health ministry said on Friday that FAD and BMGF delegations met Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to discuss ways of cooperation in social security and health, with a focus on polio eradication. Dr Shahzad Baig, head of the National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) for polio, said investigations were underway to ascertain whether the child was vaccinated or the parents refused to vaccinate.

However, it is clear that the child was not fully protected and that is why the virus attacked him, Dr Baig explained. He said that this is the first case of polio recorded in the country this year. The NEOC chief said that there are seven districts in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Bannu, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, where polio cases are reported. There is a need to pay strict attention to (these areas) in the vaccination campaign.

The region was the epicenter of polio in 2022. All 20 cases last year were reported from the districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Of these, 17 were from North Waziristan, two from Lakki Marwat and one from South Waziristan.