KARACHI: UNICEF and WHO Representatives visited one of the most polio affected areas of Karachi to determine how the two UN agencies could help revitalise efforts to stem cases of this debilitating disease.
The visit was in the backdrop of concern that mounts over the increasing number of polio cases throughout the country despite massive prevention efforts.
UNICEF and WHO are working closely within the Global Polio Partnership and with Federal and Provincial Governments with the common aim of vaccinating every child in Pakistan against the highly contagious polio virus to eradicate polio forever in Pakistan by 2012.
With 37 cases reported so far from the country (FATA (15), Sindh (11), Balochistan (8), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (3), compared to 18 for the same period last year, every effort must be made to support and implement the National Emergency Plan 2011 for Polio Eradication, it was emphasises.
WHO Pakistan Representative, Dr. Guido Sabatinelli and UNICEF Pakistan Representative, Dan Rohrmann visited several high risk areas in Karachi area to witness the National Polio Immunisation.
The national level immunisation programme is a united effort by all partners to vaccinate a targeted 33 million children around the country with two drops of polio vaccine and a dose of Vitamin- A.
One such area was UC-4 in Gadap Town, Karachi, not only a high- risk area for polio but also an area that houses some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and for whom the right to health, clean water, education and recreational activities are significantly challenged.
Despite the tough conditions, vaccination teams and local authorities and the communities and families were welcoming and engaged in the polio eradication efforts.
No one wanted to see their children affected by polio, said the officials associated with the two UN bodies.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that attacks the nervous system.
Children under five years-of-age are the most vulnerable to the disease, but timely immunisation can prevent infection.
Children can be infected with polio when they eat or drink food and water contaminated with the virus, or when they come into direct contact with an infected person's faecal matter.
The virus damages nerve cells and can cause crippling paralysis, and can be fatal in a small number of cases.
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