Doctors have called to review the current polio eradication strategy in the country with due stock towards "Fatigue Syndrome" registered among concerned workers as well as people in general. Talking to newsmen, they said the strategy adopted in 1994 followed by series of National and Sub National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) to eradicate the virus that cripple children is yet to meet the "Zero Prevalence."
This Zero Prevalence status has to be necessarily and strictly followed by another three years of No Polio Case in any part of our country ultimately helping us to achieve the status of "Polio-free Pakistan," said Dr Samreena Hashmi.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Karachi General Secretary Hashmi opined that while motivating parents and community leaders to ensure vaccination of target group children, there was also dire need to identify the lacunae in the strategy itself.
"Strict monitoring coupled with foolproof surveillance and stringent action against those failing to realise their responsibility is needed," said the PMA office-bearer. Doctors serving in public as well as private sectors were unanimous that political will is required at all levels as its absence was hampering even some of the sincerest efforts keen to help country out of the bracket of "four few" harbouring the virus.
PMA as well as other professional bodies including Pakistan Paediatric Association have attempted to realise their responsibility in requesting members (doctors) in educating parents about importance of vaccination. "I personally believe that we as a nation have to develop a strong culture of Routine Vaccination of all children across the country against identified vaccine preventable diseases," said Dr Samreena Hashmi. However, she said that since routine vaccination was yet to gain grounds hence parents, medical professionals and government has to see that assistance provided to eliminate a disease "Polio" eradicated from most parts of the world is efficiently and effectively availed.
Dr Mobina Agboatwala, Incharge Polio Clinic, Civil Hospital -Karachi said persistent poliovirus despite a 14 long efforts reflected that certain pockets continued to be left uncovered. This is, however, simultaneously complimented by the fact that the long drill has created a certain "herd immunity" as recently diagnosed cases pertained mainly to elderly children.
EPI officials, on condition of anonymity, said circulation of poliovirus through frequent mobility had emerged to be a major issue as often the origin of virus was traced to be either from Afghanistan or from an extremely remote area in the country, where child was not provided with the vaccine. When reminded that in certain instances children, provided with no less than 22 doses of OPV, were also found to had contracted the virus, they said these were in case when child was extremely malnourished, suffering from severe diarrhoea and therefore may had vomited out the vaccine a little after being administered the same.
"Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) does not guaranteed 100 percent immunity in each and every case," they maintained. Professor Ayesha Mehnaz, Head of Paediatrics Department, Unit Three, Civil Hospital, stressed that each and every child be necessarily provided with routine immunisation and that all children upto five years must also not be denied of the vaccines during each and every NIDs and SNIDs.