Islamabad:
The Federal Minister of Health, Mustafa Kamal, recognized on Tuesday the persistent presence of poliovirus in the surroundings of the country and urged the public to counteract the wrong concepts that surround the disease and its vaccine.
Responding to a notice of attention in the Senate about the current anti-political campaign, the minister informed the upper house that the virus still circulated actively in the country.
“Our environment continues to organize poliovirus,” Kamal said. “Unfortunately, false perceptions about polio have deeply rooted in people’s minds, and I don’t know why.”
However, he clarified that he had explicitly forbidden authorities to arrest parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. “I have stopped the practice of using the police to arrest parents for not administering polio drops,” he added.
The minister pointed out that despite the challenges, vaccination against polyomyelitis was even being carried out in neighboring Afghanistan.
“Except for Kandahar, all Afghan provinces are executing anti-political units,” he said.
Referring to the situation in Baluchistan, Kamal said he personally visited the province to supervise efforts against polyomyelitis.
“This year, we have reported 14 cases of polio,” he said, adding that most cases arose from Bannu and other inaccessible regions.
“Where we have not been able to arrive, the cases have skyrocketed,” he said.
He also pointed out a persistent negative propaganda campaign against the polyomyelitis vaccine as one of the obstacles in the fight to eradicate the virus.
Kamal revealed that the environmental samples of the districts throughout the country are positive for polio.
“This confirms that the virus remains present in our environment,” he said.
“Only those children who receive polio drops are protected.”
The minister said the government was committed to eradicating polyomyelitis and requested public support to overcome misinformation and logistics barriers.
