National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed a new polio case in Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, bringing the total number of cases in the province this year to three and eight nationwide, authorities said Friday.
The confirmation comes as Pakistan carries out its second nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, aiming to immunise over 45.4 million children under the age of five, including 2.6 million in the sparsely populated southwestern province of Balochistan.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had lauded the country’s anti-polio efforts in a high-level review meeting, noting that no new cases had been reported since February 10. He credited the success to ongoing nationwide initiatives and support from international partners.
The current inoculation campaign, which began this week, will run until April 27, with another drive scheduled for May 26 to June 1. Health officials continue to urge parents to ensure their children are vaccinated multiple times to build immunity against the highly contagious virus.
Polio remains endemic in only two countries worldwide, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The virus, which mainly affects children under five, can cause irreversible paralysis but is preventable with a few drops of oral vaccine.
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