Polio virus present in every district of Karachi: Health Minister

Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal admitted the presence of polio in every area of Karachi on Monday, declaring the situation alarming and revealing that samples from different areas had tested positive for the virus.

The Minister's statement came during the inauguration of the anti-polio campaign, where he stated that efforts were being made to convince parents to prevent their children from lifelong disability.

Kamal highlighted that in the previous campaign, over 44,000 parents refused to vaccinate their children nationwide, of which 34,000 children were from Karachi.

He said in this campaign, the authorities came up with a strategy to convince the parents about the importance of vaccines.

Read: Poliovirus found in environmental samples from 20 districts 

Kamal shared that efforts to protect children from polio were also being made throughout Afghanistan, except in the Kandahar region.

Nationwide Polio Campaign

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the poliovirus remains endemic. UNICEF is responsible for procuring polio vaccines for both nations.

The campaign is = part of the broader Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It aims to vaccinate at least 45.5 million children across the country over seven days.

In Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah officially started the campaign by vaccinating children in Karachi, making the polio vaccine mandatory for every child under five.

Read: Cop killed as polio vaccination team attacked in Bajaur

"There is no cure for polio, only the vaccine can prevent disability," he reminded.

While stressing the need for the protection of children from the virus, the CM also directed the frontline workers to bring ORS and essential equipment for self-protection during hot weather as they continued to perform their duties.

Notably, in Sindh, more than 10 million children will be vaccinated, including at least 2.7 million children in Karachi.

According to authorities, as many as 25,000 police personnel were deployed to ensure the security of polio workers.