Published February 13,2023
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Pakistan on Monday launched a door-to-door marketing campaign to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of youngsters in opposition to polio, after proof of cross-border transmission from neighboring Afghanistan.
The National Institute of Health confirmed the detection of poliovirus genetically linked to the virus present in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in November 2022 in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest metropolis, final month.
“This is the first evidence of cross-border transmission in more than a year,” the Health Ministry mentioned in a press release.
The five-day marketing campaign will goal greater than 6 million youngsters below the age of 5 in 39 districts of the nation.
Partial campaigns might be performed in 30 districts that embody the areas bordering Afghanistan, Afghan refugee camps and high-risk cell populations within the southern metropolis of Multan.
Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel mentioned the presence of untamed poliovirus with genetic hyperlinks to the virus in Afghanistan is proof that the virus is transferring with individuals and circulating in communities.
“Poliovirus on any side of the border is a threat to children in both countries. Only repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine can offer life-long protection,” he mentioned.
Last month, two environmental samples collected from two separate websites in Lahore examined constructive for wild poliovirus.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are among the many few international locations on this planet the place new polio instances nonetheless floor.
Pakistan had just one case of polio in 2021 however 20 instances have been reported final 12 months, all from the violence-stricken province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
