Cash-strapped Afghanistan appears to have done better than neighbour Pakistan in fight against polio. A report by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) published by Pakistani news outlet Dawn has revealed that last year, only 25 cases of polio were reported in Afghanistan while 68 cases were detected in Pakistan.
It has been reported that situation in Pakistan remains serious as processing of several polio samples from the previous year still to be done.
Polio virus affected 83 districts in Pakistan while Afghanistan was able to confine spread of the virus to just 11 provinces.
It reportedly is being argued by the experts from Pakistan’s polio programme that cases in Afghanistan were under-reported.
However, even consideration of such a scenario does not absolve Pakistan since the virus spread continues in spite of the more rigorous reporting system.
Pakistan has been tried to eradicate polio since 1994. However, its polio programme has faced several setbacks.
Terrorist activity in the country is one of the impediments. Political instability and hard to reach geographical areas have added to the challenges. All these factors have meant that not every child in Pakistan is vaccinated against polio.
Dawn has reported that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a new team to steer the fight against polio.
