90% of the Polio cases in Pakistan are imported from Afghanistan

Pakistan Minister of Health’s allegation

Islamabad (Pakistan) – Dr Nadeem Jan Pakistan’s Minister of Health said that 90% of the Polio cases in Pakistan are imported from Afghanistan. Nadeem made this allegation after 3 new cases of Polio were diagnosed in Pakistan. According to an official at the polio laboratory of the National Institute of Health (NIH), sewage samples collected from Dera Bugti, in Balochistan, and Peshawar had tested positive for the virus. Both viruses, found in sewage samples, are similar to Afghanistan’s poliovirus. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the polio virus remains endemic. According to authorities, the transmission of wild poliovirus has been restricted to seven districts in the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, namely Tank, Bannu, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper, South Waziristan Lower, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat. The Government has launched a five-day polio vaccination drive targeting around 44 million children across the country.

Editorial Perspective

Saying this cannot be an excuse for one’s failures and incapability. What else can be the condition of the health of the country’s children where its children are taught Hinduphobia and spends the greatest amount of the budget on the army’s war preparedness.