Poliovirus resurgence brings into question vaccination coverage under routine immunisation.

Byline: Mohammad Hussain Khan

HYDERABAD -- Resurgence of polio cases in Sindh 17 out of 111, this year's total until Dec 22 indicates that poliovirus continues to remain a national burden while state of vaccination in Sindh paints a bleak picture as the province ranks second after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's 73 cases.

The unyielding virus brings into question the vaccination coverage under routine immunisation (RI) throAugh Expanded Programme on ImmunAisation (EPI) in the province, since below-par coverage makes achievement of targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) increasingly difficult.

UN's 17 SDGs targeted to be achieved by 2030 cover areas of social sector for a sustainable future for all. And of the 17, SDG-3 directly addresses 'good health and well-being,' having 12 targets that could be met through vaccination to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age, reduce maternal mortality, end epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, combat hepatitis and reduce one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment.

In the just-concluded five-day province-wide campaign, except for Karachi, that ended with further two days of catch-up exercise, 6.4 million (94.5 per cent of target) out of 6.78m children had been vaccinated.

In Karachi, one million were vaccinated out of 2.3m children. The catch-up drive in the metropolis was to end on Dec 22. A total of nine million children were to be vaccinated against poliovirus across Sindh in a campaign that started from Dec 16.

The back to back campaigns are launched by Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio eradication either as part of provincial or national immunisation drive in addition to RI which covers 11 different vaccinations including polio. Typhoid vaccine is also now part of EPI following recent surge in typhoid cases, originating in Hyderabad.

Dr Iqbal Memon, a member of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group for Polio regrets that unless 90pc-plus coverage of RI is achieved gaps will keep making things difficult. 'We will have to grapple with this national burden in shape of polio. A polio-affected child doesn't only fail to become a useful member of society but he also entails a huge economic cost for the entire life in community,' he contends.

He thinks that 'We as a society doesn't take it seriously as people have more important chores than taking a child to a fixed EPI...

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