Pakistan resumes polio vaccination during coronavirus quiescence Pakistan news

Quetta, Pakistan -Pakistan has been polio-promoted in high-risk areas across the country after a four-month hiatus in one of the only two countries in the world where debilitating viruses are still widespread due to coronavirus pandemics. We are restarting vaccination efforts.

Vaccines visit Monday to vaccinate more than 800,000 children under the age of five in Karachi, Quetta, Faisalabad, Atok, and South Waziristan districts, according to a government-run polio eradication campaign. To do.

At least 59 cases of polio, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause paralysis in infants’ limbs, were registered in Pakistan this year. according to To official data.

The virus re-emerged in Pakistan last year, backed by reports of incomplete vaccination campaigns with parents who refused to vaccinate their children, with 147 cases nationwide and just 12 last year. ..

This year, the government said it was planning to strengthen vaccinations nationwide, but the coronavirus epidemic forced them into a corner and reaching door-to-door to reach more than 35 million children logistically. It became difficult to do.

At least 59 polio cases have been detected in Pakistan so far this year [File: Fayaz Aziz /Reuters]

Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, head of the government’s polio eradication program, said:

Mr Savdal said the current drive will face unprecedented challenges, but the vaccination was equipped with protective devices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the drive.

“Yes, it would be difficult to persuade parents to give their children an anti-polio vaccine, but we [the] Drive,” he told Al Jazeera.

“A polio worker wearing personal protective equipment [PPE] The kit participates in the campaign and administers anti-polio vaccine to children without touching them. “

Coronavirus hits the drive

As of Monday, Pakistan had registered at least 265,083 coronavirus cases as of Monday, with 5,689 deaths to date, according to government data.

Health officials say the number of patients seeking treatment for highly infectious diseases is declining, suggesting that the country may have leveled the increasing trend of infectious diseases.

But critics say the country hasn’t tested enough people to ensure that the incident has diminished.

The Polio Eradication Program announced in a statement that the blockade imposed in March continued sporadically, affecting health service delivery and affecting the mandatory vaccination of more than 700,000 newborns each month. ..

“The impact of COVID-19 on our economy and our community is unprecedented,” said Dr. Zafar Milza, head of national health.

“Due to the disruption of the essential vaccination services of the COVID-19 pandemic, children are at increased risk of diseases that can be prevented by polio and other vaccines.”

by UNICEFThe disruption of critical health care, nutrition, and vaccination services caused by the coronavirus can threaten the lives of more than 459,000 children and mothers in South Asia over the next six months.

The plan to restart vaccination against polio in Pakistan initially targeted regions where poliovirus was rapidly spreading, followed by rounds of response in August and September, with a national campaign in the last three months of 2020. It will be held 3 times.

Pakistan has more than 265,000 coronavirus infections to date [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]

Security risk

Efforts to vaccinate polio in Pakistan have also receded due to increased security risks, with more attacks targeting polio vaccinated individuals and their security details in 2019.

According to Al Jazeera, at least 101 people have been killed in such attacks since 2012, and at least 10 people since the beginning of 2019.

False alarms about the safety of vaccine use are also widespread.

A video claiming that children were ill after polio vaccination last April was infected by a virus in northwestern Peshawar City, attacking a government-run medical facility and children by parents. The refusal of vaccination has spread.

Local authorities say they are afraid that denial rates will remain high because they could not effectively follow up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children because of a coronavirus pandemic. ..

“Balochistan [province] A number of cases of polio vaccine rejection have been dealt with by the district rejection committee, but since March they have not been able to catch up,” said Dr. Ahtabkakar, a technical expert working on a polio vaccination campaign in the Southwestern province. Said.

“To [the] The next campaign will have to take a ton of rejection of the polio vaccine. “