New case of polio reported in Pakistan

KARACHI: A one-year-old child was today diagnosed with the crippling polio virus, the latest case in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi highlighting the problems faced by the country in combating this menace.

The child from Landhi area was diagnosed with polio, bringing the total number of polio cases in the country to 84 this year.

Sindh Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed said this was the seventh polio victim from Sindh province while 65 had been detected in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and 12 from Khyber-Paktunkhwa.

Interestingly, all the other six cases of polio from Sindh and all from Karachi come from Pushtun speaking families and most of them hail from Swat region.

"Pushtun families, especially those who have migrated from northern areas in the last couple of years are notorious for refusing vaccines due to a number of reasons ranging from religion to traditions to family's preferences," an official said.

Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic but efforts to stamp out the crippling disease have been hit by repeated attacks on health teams.

Gunmen has frequently attacked polio vaccination workers, accusing them of being Western spies and part of a plot to sterilise Muslims.

The World Health Organisation has made it mandatory for all travellers from Pakistan to carry anti-polio vaccine certificates or get vaccinated at the airport before departure.