Pakistan ended 2011 with more cases than any other country, accounting for more than 30% of all cases globally. It is one of only two countries with cases of both type 1 and type 3 polio (the other is Nigeria). Nine cases have already been reported for 2012 (as of 14 February), spread as widely apart as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Balochistan and Sindh.
As such, the country remains a top priority for the GPEI (Global Polio Eradication Initiative), with technical support from WHO, UNICEF and CDC continuing to be scaled up, especially at the union council level, and hundreds of personnel being deployed. This support will assist Pakistan’s Government to implement its newly augmented National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication.
Besides technical know-how, public trust in polio vaccination is crucial to the success of polio eradication. Pakistani Rotarians are giving it their all, coming up with many innovative ideas to encourage parents to vaccinate their children; including a downloadable polio eradication ring tone, polio eradication ‘walks’ and seminars. Meanwhile, polio eradication public service announcements featuring Aseefa Bhutto Zardari , the daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, were played on the state-run television channels in the lead up to the recent National Immunization Days held from 30 January.
