The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has expressed confidence that polio virus will be eradicated from Pakistan by the end of next year, following effective measures to check its spread.
UNICEF’s Regional Director for South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei, said that according to available data, the potentially fatal virus is in control in Pakistan.
“We are using all available resources and services at our disposal to reach every girl and boy in Pakistan with life saving vaccines and protect them against the entirely preventable disease,” he said.
“The programme is back on track to stop all wild poliovirus transmission in 2023,” he added.
Adjei noted that compared to a year ago, Pakistan was in a far better position to eradicate polio. He stated that certain obstacles complicated efforts to entirely eradicate the pathogen.
He lamented the attacks on health workers and polio teams in various areas of Pakistan and voiced his concern about them. He also praised the polio teams’ bravery.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.
