World Polio Day being observed across the globe
Pakistan hopes to be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries by 2018.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - World Polio Day is being commemorated across the globe today (Tuesday) including Pakistan.
The day is observed on Oct 24 with a commitment to fight against poliomyelitis and pay a tribute to Jonas Salk, American medical researcher and virologist who led the first team that developed a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
The virus has been 99 percent eradicated from the world but polio still stubbornly remains in three countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria- where communities, alongside local and international authorities, are making rigorous efforts to remove the last remaining pockets of the virus.
Pakistan hopes to be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries by 2018 by achieving its goal of no fresh cases for a year.
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According to medical experts, polio cases in the country have been reduced by 65 percent while the past seven years show that the rate has come down continuously. Atleast 144 cases were reported in 2010, 198 in 2011, 58 in 2012, 93 in 2013, 306 in 2014, 54 in 2015 and 20 cases in 2016.
In the current year, only five polio cases have surfaced till the ongoing month of October.
Health Department has said that the polio cases in the country have dropped as a result of the polio immunisation campaigns. It has urged the people to fully cooperate with the government in making Pakistan polio free.
Polio virus affects children under the age of five, and it is incurable. The virus causes paralysis, sometimes within the hours of the onset of infection. It often hits legs and spin, but can also leads to death by immobilising breathing muscles.
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Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988; an estimated 16 million people were saved from the paralysis, and 1.5 million children from death.
Polio virus can flourish and spread if there are no sustainable efforts to control the disease. For every known case, about 200 people can carry the disease without any symptoms.
