Expressing indignation with the administration and concerned agencies over detection of a polio case in Lahore, the Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has sought a report from the Health department. Terming the detection of a polio case in Lahore as a very shameful matter, the CM directed the concerned departments to accelerate efforts aimed at eradication of polio. He said that concerned departments will have to give results through coordinated efforts.
The CM also directed to launch a comprehensive campaign for the awareness of steps taken for the eradication of polio. He said that he will not tolerate any negligence in anti-polio efforts. "Protecting the future-builders of the nation from fatal diseases like polio is our collective responsibility and making Pakistan and the Punjab polio-free is our mission," he said, adding: "Concerned departments will have to efficiently perform to save the children from polio."
With the detection of polio case in Lahore, alarm has spread among the provincial health authorities.
According to details, the victim of polio virus was identified as 10-year-old boy who was resident of Allama Iqbal Town. "Samples were collected on April 2 and sent to Islamabad for confirmation. The virus belongs to an Outfall Pumping Station in Lahore," sources said.
Efforts to eliminate polio in Pakistan have became complicated in recent years, as polio workers have faced attacks by militants who say the health teams are Western spies, or that the vaccines they administer are intended to sterilise children.
It may be added that polio is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours. It mainly affects children under the age of five.