our correspondentTuesday, January 22, 2013
ISLAMABAD: The exportation of poliovirus from Pakistan’s Sukkur district to the Al Salam and Al Haggana areas of Cairo has prompted the government to advise the provincial as well as provincial administration to set up permanent vaccination counters inside international departure lounges of all airports across the country so that all eligible children traveling abroad are vaccinated against polio.
The decision has been taken as a preemptive measure to reduce the possibility of the spread of poliovirus beyond Pakistan’s borders. The Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell, World Health Organization, Unicef and partners in Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Initiative have called for urgent pre-emptive measures against exportation of the polio virus after positive samples linked to Sukkur were discovered in Egypt. Two sewage samples collected from the Al Salam and Al Haggana areas of Cairo district bore resemblance to a strain discovered recently in sewage water tested in Sukkur.
The Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring and Co-ordination Cell has already asked the Sindh government to improve its polio immunisation efforts to stop poliovirus transmission in the province on an emergency basis.
The Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Shahnaz Wazir Ali has termed the importation of poliovirus as “a stark reminder of the risks associated with active poliovirus transmission in the country, and the need to make efforts to stop the transmission on urgent basis in Pakistan. Though the virus has not infected any child in Egypt and the country remains polio-free since 2004, the Egyptian Ministry of Health has ordered immediate vaccination of all children less than 5 years in localities near Cairo from where the virus of Pakistan origin was discovered. Dr Ahmed Omar of the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt has stated that the Ministry will start a campaign to vaccinate children under-five against polio in Ezbet Hagana Peace and Kaliobeya in Cairo.
Recently, the Independent Monitoring Board had also recommended international travel restrictions for the three polio endemic countries under the International Health Regulations. “The assessment of the IMB reflects the global concern over Pakistan and other polio endemic countries; however, regarding travel restrictions, it is understandable that every polio-free country would like to maintain its polio-free status and may consider taking steps to avoid importation of the virus,” stated the Emergency Coordinator for Polio Eradication at the WHO, Dr Elias Durry.
Pakistan has taken major strides in 2012 with a 71 percent reduction in the number of polio cases, with all but 28 districts free of poliovirus transmission. The recent security-related incidents in parts of the country have exposed children to risk of contracting polio, a disease that causes permanent paralysis in young children. Polio virus type 3 has not been found in Pakistan since April 2012, whereas environmental samples have been found mostly negative for poliovirus except for a few sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
According to Unicef’s acting head of polio unit, Michael Coleman, it reinforces the urgent need of all caregivers across Pakistan to vaccinate children under five years of age against polio through the nearest health facility or through campaign vaccination teams. Pakistan reported 58 polio cases last year. No case has been reported so far in 2013. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-20434-Permanent-vaccination-counters-to-be-set-up-at-all-airports
Tuesday, 22 January 2013 05:20
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health officials Monday called for infants leaving the country to be issued polio vaccinations at airports after virus samples linked to Sukkur were discovered in Egypt.
Two sewage samples from Cairo were analysed and found to resemble a recently discovered strain in Sukkur, a joint statement by health officials, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF said.
"To reduce the possibility of spread of the polio virus beyond Pakistan's borders, the government's Monitoring and Coordination Cell is advising to set up permanent vaccination counters at the international departure lounges of all airports," it said.
The statement recommended that "all children under five years leaving the country are vaccinated against the polio virus."..
