PMA urges govt to declare polio emergency to avoid international travel restrictions.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Monday urged government to declare polio emergency in the country amid the rising toll of cases and to avoid international travelling restrictions.

In a statement issued by PMA it said that 'PMA suggests the government to deal with this menace on priority basis and declare polio emergency in the country.' Pakistan Medical Association Secretary General Dr. Qaiser Sajjad said that the Polio infection remains endemic despite over 100 rounds of vaccination being carried out in the past decade and Polio programme has been deteriorated.

He said in 2018, polio programme seemed to be on the brink of eradicating poliovirus but during the year 2019 as many as 136 cases have been reported as compared to 12 cases in 2018.

The provincial data for 2019 shows that 92 polio cases have been reported from KP, 25 from Sindh, 11 from Balochistan, and eight from Punjab.

'This is very unfortunate that the International Monitoring Board has declared the Polio programme and the importance of delivering polio vaccine as 'political football' in the country while it also observed that there is lack of political unity behind polio resurgence in the country,' he said.

Dr. Qaiser also added that Pakistan remains under a polio-linked travel restriction imposed by the World Health Organization due to which, since 2014, every Pakistani travelling abroad has to carry a polio vaccination certificate.

'It is alarming that Pakistan can face travelling restrictions from other countries as well,' he said.

A statement issued added that PMA had already warned the government to pay full attention to the polio programme because due to weakening of the programme, we could face more travelling restrictions.

The United States has generated a Level 2 travel alert for Pakistan and other polio-endemic Asian countries following outbreak of the crippling disease, declaring the life-time booster dose for adults mandatory during the period of restrictions imposed by the WHO. The alert has been generated on the recommendations of the US federal agency...