Polio and Pakistan

DISEASE is one of the many mirrors we can use to understand ourselves and the societies we live in. the Polio virus is one of the dangerous diseases in the world which attacks saphenous nerve cells. the world first recorded a polio case in 1908, when Karl landsteiner and Erwin popper discovered that polio virus was caused by virus which came from animals.

the first polio cases occurred in Oslo, Norway with 14 cases in 1868. Later 13 cases were reported in Northern Sweden 188. In 1988 poliomyelitis paralysed and killed hundreds of thousands people every year.

Polio is highly infectious consisting of stereotypes 1, 2 and 3 horizontal transmission usually occurs via the faeco-oral, with faeco- oral contributing to the majority of cases in regions with poor hygiene and sanitation.

Pakistan’s polio eradication programme has come under international scrutiny due to its position as the main driver of global wild polio spread in recent years. Roughly 20,000 wild poliovirus cases were reported in Pakistan in the early 1990s but the polio eradication programme has reduced this by up to 99%.

In 2014, Pakistan became the world’s highest number of polio cases. Later in 2019, only 1 case was registered in Punjab, 0 in Sindh, 16 cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 0 in Balochistan, also no cases were reported in Gilgit Baltistan.

In 2021, only 1 case was registered in Punjab, 2 cases in Sindh, 4 cases in Balochistan, and 1 case Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No cases were registered in Gilgit Baltistan, owing to the success of polio eradication drives by the government.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries where the disease is still present. I hope the government of Pakistan will work hard on this dangerous disease and eradicate it from the country.

NAJEEB SAWALI AWARAN