Polio Cases on the Decline in Pakistan
NEW DELHI, Apr 18: A nation-wide polio eradication drive is being launched in Pakistan for a week from April 21 covering about 4.5 million children under the age of five.
A meeting to review polio eradication efforts, chaired by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, was informed the efforts of the Pakistani government was yielding good results as no new polio case had been reported from any part of the country since February 10 after showing some rise during November, last year, local media report said. As against 74 cases reported last year, the number declined to six so far this year.
The decline in the number of cases was attributed to the rigorous polio vaccination campaign. The meeting appreciated the efforts of government institutions, healthcare professionals, and international organizations for the success in the polio eradication programme.
About 4.15 lakh polio workers would participate in the week-long campaign which would be followed by three-day validation programme from April 28 to 30, the report said.
(Subham Singh)
