World Polio Day: Pakistan renews pledge to become polio-free country

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday articulated his resolution to wipe out the polio virus from Pakistan, for a better and safer Pakistan.

Pakistan is amongst the only three countries in the world, including Afghanistan and Nigeria, that is still under the influence of widespread polio.

The World Polio Day is observed on October 24 every year.

Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted his message on World Polio Day:

Our government is fully committed to ending polio in Pakistan. On #WorldPolioDay, I am confident, together with our people, we will achieve a safer, healthier and polio-free Pakistan for our children.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 24, 2018

Polio, is one of the disease that prevails from childhood due to the polio virus, but it is avertable by vaccination.

World Polio Day is annually observed to memorialize struggle against poliomyelitis and to pay accolade to Jonas Salk, American medical researcher and virologist, who started the first team for vaccination of polio.

 

However, the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has given precedence to health segment in their 100-Day program.

Pakistan has been combating polio for the past many years and now is in the stage for a complete removal of this disease. There is an immense improvement in the number of cases, as they have diminished from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015, 20 in 2016 and eight in 2017. In 2018, around six polio cases have been reported till date.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), a country shall have no case of polio for three successive years, so as to be measured in the race of polio free country.

It needs to be mentioned here, that one of the cause behind the stretch of polio virus is travel. Since Pakistan shares border with Afghanistan, therefore it can be bit difficult to avert the spread of the this virus.

 

All parents must make sure to get their children vaccinated against polio, in order to help Pakistan to achieve a polio-free Pakistan.

Mostly children under the age of five are affected by polio, which does not have a cure once the age gap is covered, it can only be avoided by giving a child numerous vaccine doses which can help in longer run.

The WHO data reveals, number of polio cases around the globe has reduced by more than 99% since 1988. Almost 350,000 cases were reported previously, but now only 22 cases are reported in 2017.