Polio certificate made mandatory for travellers from Pakistan

KARACHI: Egypt has made polio vaccination certificate mandatory for travelers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), passengers travelling to Egypt from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malawi, Mozambique and Congo are requested to provide an international certificate of vaccination specifically polio vaccine, OPV or IPV (both are acceptable).

Last month, the International Health Regulations’ (2005) Emergency Committee, responsible for assessing global poliovirus spread, expressed concerns over Pakistan’s efforts to reach a large number of children through its polio eradication campaign.

Last week, the health department said two environmental samples, taken from Pishin and Peshawar, tested positive for an Afghan strain of the poliovirus.

Meanwhile, the nationwide polio eradication campaign has been underway since September 25 (today) after polio virus was detected in environmental sites in different cities.

The campaign would be completed in three phases across the country, say sources, adding that the second from October 2 and final phase will be kicked-off from October 9 to 13.