health

HEALTH-PAKISTAN: Porous Afghan Border Thwarts Anti-Polio Drive

Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Feb 21 2007 (IPS) – Pakistan has intensified efforts to eradicate the polio virus with a new vaccination drive that targets 12 high-risk districts in southern Sindh province where three new cases were reported recently, bringing the total number of polio incidents countrywide to four since the start of the year.
The door-to-door anti-polio campaign from Feb. 20 to 22 is part of the Health Ministry s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). Pakistan s Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) was launched in 1994 in collaboration with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPI) which was begun six years before.

But despite a gargantuan effort by an army of some 60,000 frontline health workers in Pakistan, who go from house to house to administer two polio drops to some 6.5 million under-five children on every national immunisation day (NID), the coverage has only been some 96 percent.

A lack of political will and the indifference of parents have hampered efforts to achieve the global target of complete eradication. Pakistan remains among four countries in the world still battling to eliminate the virus. The others are Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.

GPI, a partnership between the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Children s Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International and the US-based Centers for Disease Control, wanted to wipe out the debilitating disease by 2005. That was not to be. Nineteen years and 65 campaigns later children are still falling victims to the crippling virus.

Our efforts need to be supported by the provincial and district governments, said Dr Salma Kausar Ali, project director of EPI in Sindh province.
Related IPS Articles

Last year, the federal health ministry reported 39 polio cases of which 15 were found in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Immunisation teams reported they were unable to reach 66 inaccessible areas, some of which are along the volatile Afghan border. The local population has stiffly resisted the campaign with allegations that the polio vaccine has been imported from the United States which as a close ally of Israel is regarded as an enemy of Muslims.

Now there are renewed fears of an outbreak of polio in the NWFP with the reporting of 12 hot cases children suspected of contracting the virus since January. One of the reasons for the high prevalence rate here is the undemarcated Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There is close interaction between families on both sides of the border.

While Dr Ali ruled out fears of an outbreak in Sindh, she warned that unless the wild polio virus was wiped out from Afghanistan and the border provinces of NWFP and Balochistan, a complete eradication in Pakistan was an exercise in futility.

The three cases in the last two months belonged to the nomadic population and not from the indigenous Sindhi population, Dr Ali explained. The genetic analysis of the virus, showed its origin to be from Kandahar, in Afghanistan, where wild polio virus is still found. Short of stopping people from entering Sindh, we cannot stop the virus from spreading.

One effective method to control the mobility of the virus has been the setting up of 26 EPI centres at all entry points bus-stands, sea-port, airports etc û so that no child who enters or goes away from the province has not been immunised since January. So far 11,000 vulnerable children have been administered the polio drops.

Pakistan s immunisation programme has also been bolstered by the replacement of the ageing equipment needed to maintain the cold chain for the vaccination. Moreover, the logistical nightmare that teams have complained about in the past has also been resolved by providing better transport while the daily allowance for the field teams has been revised.

With campaign fatigue setting in, and diminishing resources, health experts have been frustrated. Dr Mubina Agboatwala who has been running the polio clinic at Karachi s government-run Civil Hospital said: Perhaps we need to re-strategise and glamourise the campaign and rope in everyone. The campaign needs to be injected with a renewed vigour to bring it to a close.

Dr Abdul Wahid Bhurt, the WHO s provincial operations officer, is more optimistic. I think we are going about the right, tried and tested way. This is exactly how other countries eradicated the disease. At this point, at the last leg, there were bound to be hiccups and the end was never foreseen to be without problems. I also think the media can now take on a more proactive role and bring the campaign to its logical end, he appealed.

People have a short memory and need to be reminded to take the children to routine immunisation centres if they missed out on NIDs, he said. They need to be reminded of the consequences of not getting their children immunised. They should be so informed and empowered that if for some reason the vaccine is not available, or the team has not reached their areas, they should be able to demand its availability immediately.

It appears that the media has been missing all these years from the communication strategy chalked out by the PEI. While there has been some public advertising before and on immunisation days, there has been no attempt to sustain the awareness raising process. Instead of roping in the media, the authorities have relied on their own resources to publicise the polio eradication programme.

I think the important role media could have played has been overlooked all these years, conceded Dr Ali. Yet it s not too late, for it is the one medium that can reach even the remotest of places.

However, financial resources for a media campaign are not available. Dr Bhurt acknowledged that their hands are tied when it comes to spending on advertisements. But perhaps the media can think of it as national interest and run a sustained and rigorous public service campaign for the larger public good, he reckoned.

 

Related Posts

PlayStation Plus Moving Away From Monthly PS4 Games

Sony has announced a key change for the future of PlayStation Plus. Sony will shift away from offering PS4 games as it looks to focus on PS5 games instead. Sony said it’s making this change as part of the evolution of PS Plus overall Come from online casino bangladesh . This isn’t starting soon, though, and will begin in January 2026.

“As we shift to PS5, PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit and will only be occasionally offered for PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog starting January 2026. We may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date,” Sony said.

PS4 games that players have already redeemed from PS Plus are not affected, provided players stay subscribed to Pl…

Saquon Barkley's No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25

In the NFL, when players pull off something special on the field, fans occasionally refer to it as a “video-game move.” But Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley took that to another level earlier this season when he evaded a defender by jumping over him while looking the other way. EA couldn’t resist adding that no-look hurdle to the latest update for Madden NFL 25, but Barkley is the only player who can use it and it’s not easy to pull off.

As part of the notes for the new Madden NFL 25 update, EA explained that the development team immediately decided to put Barkley’s “once-in-a-lifetime move” in the game by combing through hours of motion-capture footage. From there, they determined which animations could be modified to recreate Barkley’s leap, with some additional h…

Resistance 4 Was Pitched But Didn't Work Out, Says Former Insomniac Boss

According to former Insomniac Games boss Ted Price, a Resistance 4 game was pitched but ultimately wasn’t made.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Ted Price, said, “We did pitch that one. It was a wonderful concept, and in terms of timing and market opportunity, it didn’t work out.” When asked whether Resistance 3’s poor sales at the time impacted the decision to move on from the series, Price didn’t answer directly.

“Resistance 3 was intended to end that chapter of the Resistance franchise,” he explained. “With the way we ended with [protagonist] Capelli and closed a lot of loops on various smaller story items…we wanted to do that so we could have more options in the future, whether we would go ahead with more Resistance games or taking another turn.”

Star Wars- Legion Is Super Cheap For Prime Day – Plus, More Star Wars Board Game Deals

We’ve seen plenty of great Star Wars video games hit the market over the past few years, but the same is also true for Star Wars board games. Legion is one of the most popular options, pitting two players against each other in strategy battles that can run for up to three hours. It’s also one of the most expensive at $120–but for Prime Day, you can get it for just $89. Come from online casino bangladesh

That’s one of the lowest prices of the year. The base game includes 33 highly detailed miniatures, a comprehensive rulebook, and all the cards and pieces you need to dive into the complex game. The game is an easy recommendation for Star Wars fans now that it’s listed for less than $120, though we’re sure Amazon …

Elden Ring's Miyazaki Named To Time's 100 Most Influential People List For 2023

Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 most influential people has arrived, and the list includes one person from the world of video games. From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls, lands on the list in the “Innovator” section. Come from Sports betting site VPbet

Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann profiled Miyazaki for Time, writing that Miyazaki’s games originally made him feel “miserable” because Druckmann’s character died over and over again. But Druckmann, and gamers all over the place who stick with Miyazaki’s games, may end up having a breakthrough. That’s what makes Miyazaki such a great designer, Druckmann said.

Ark- Ultimate Survivor Edition Coming To Switch in September

Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition is coming to the Nintendo Switch in September, bundling together the base game alongside several expansion packs. This includes the Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, and both Genesis parts, and will retail for $50 when it arrives on Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system.

For those players who already own Ark’s regular edition on Switch, they’ll receive a complete revamp of functionality, graphics, and optimization for the game Come from Sports betting site VPbet . Ark developer Studio Wildcard says that a third-party developer has been hired to lead the charge on this new version of Ark, which has resulted in the game’s Switch code being entirely rewritten and developed on the latest version…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *