Polio-free Pakistan on the cards as no case reported in Punjab during 2021

LAHORE: In a major development towards polio eradication from Pakistan, Punjab, the biggest province of the country, has not reported a single polio case in 2021, ARY NEWS reported.

The details have been shared by the Polio Eradication Program Punjab, highlighting that the environmental samples have indicated the elimination of the crippling disease altogether.

“No polio case has been reported in Punjab this year,” the report said adding that only six percent of samples from Rawalpindi had traces of the disease.

In 2020, the report shared that 71 percent of the samples turned out to be positive for poliovirus. “The samples from Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, and Bahawalpur have turned out to be negative,” the report said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan has said that Pakistan is nearing eradicating Polio.

He was talking with a delegation of Pakistan Polio Eradication Program which called on him and briefed him about details of the surveillance review. “We should not lose this golden opportunity,” the prime minister’s aide said.

Pakistan is engaged in efforts to eradicate the poliovirus since 1994, he said. “The country has extremely improved its polio surveillance and controlled the virus with the best strategy,” Faisal Sultan said.

“Despite coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan’s anti-polio program has launched best vaccination drives,” he said. He thanked the team for the best surveillance review adding that all resources are being utilized for eradicating the disease.