KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Sharmila Farooqui said on Saturday Pakistan has so far reported 84 polio cases in 2020 out of which 22 cases are from Sindh, 26 from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 14 from Punjab. In the year 2019, the country reported 147 polio cases, 12 in 2018, eight in 2017, in 2016 twenty, and in 2015 reported 54 cases.

She was addressing a seminar in Karachi on Saturday. "There are more than 3000 polio centres across Sindh province through which Sindh health department is providing service to the polio patients. Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects children, particularly under the age of five years..." she said.

Sharmila said Sindh is the province most affected by Covid-19 in the whole country as a result, essential immunizations coverage suffered by 20 percent. The second wave of Covid-19 is underway which is feared to be worse. Despite this, essential services of routine immunisation and polio campaigns would continue. Sindh conducted anti-polio campaign in Karachi in July 2020, followed by regular campaigns in August, Sep and Oct 2020 and then in Nov and Dec.

Sharmila said according to a report, in Oct 2020, Sindh achieved 97 percent coverage overall, with 93 percent in Karachi. However, the level of refusals still raises concern. In the August 2020 campaign, there were 120,000 refusals in Karachi, which reduced to 102,000 in September and 82,000 in Oct.

The PPP MPA said that the provincial health team is forging alliances on polio with major political leaders and macro-level influencers across political parties, with a specific focus on active involvement of Pashtun influencers. She said on religious grounds and some faiths, people, particularly Pakhtuns, in some areas of Karachi, including Korangi and Baldia, are reluctant to administer polio drops to their children. However, the Sindh government was holding meetings with religious and other political leaders to end this misconception.

These misconceptions are because of negative social media which has played havoc with the programme. Negative videos on WhatsApp and Facebook have heavily contributed to misconceptions about polio drops, she added.

The Sindh government is striving hard to make polio campaigns more comprehensive to get 100 percent results and that is why health sector has been included among its top three priorities, Sharmila concluded.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021