The polio programme in Pakistan is back on track, according to a senior UNICEF official, who expressed optimism that the country will be free of the crippling disease by the end of 2023 thanks to successful efforts to stop its spread.
In an exclusive interview with APP, George Laryea-Adjei, regional director for South Asia, stated that the most recent data suggested that the virus was now under control in the nation. We are using all available resources and services at our disposal to reach every girl and boy in Pakistan with lifesaving vaccines and protect them against the entirely preventable disease,” he said.
Appreciating efforts of over 350,000 health workers traveling to all parts of the country to administer doses of the vaccine to every child, he said, “the program is back on track to stop all wild polio virus transmission in 2023,”.
George Laryea-Adjei said Pakistan was in a much better position today to eradicate polio than a year ago. However, there were challenges that hampered the efforts to eliminate the virus completely.
He expressed concern over the attack on polio and health workers in some parts of Pakistan and lauded the courage of polio teams.
He also appreciated efforts of polio eradication endeavors of the government recalling that Pakistan was the first country to launch an ambitious programme for training its health workers to support national immunisation programmes.
Highlighting the challenges, he said that the onslaught of back-to-back disasters drought, heatwaves, floods and acts of violence – continued to put millions of children’s lives at risk in Pakistan.
Since April, Pakistan has been hit by a series of extreme weather events. There was no spring this year, with the country going from winter directly into a scorching summer. Temperatures reached over 50 degrees Celsius in some areas of the country followed by catastrophic floods. All such events have been threatening lives of children.
