KARACHI: As the newly launched city-wide special immunization campaign moves into its last phase, experts shared on Tuesday that two key obstacles in the fight against polio still remain: a lack of community participation and unfavorable parental attitudes.
The program, which ends on July 13, was created in reaction to the polio case that was recently discovered in Kemari. This is the eighth occurrence of polio in the nation this year, with the first three cases occurring in Karachi and Sindh.
The campaign targets around 100,000 children under five who were not able to receive their vaccine doses during the previous campaigns for a variety of reasons, including parental rejection. It serves all of Karachi’s districts.
Officials claim that the poliovirus, which has been regularly found in sewage samples collected from the drains in these locations this year, is “infected” in all seven districts of the city.
A campaign is underway in all of Karachi’s districts to vaccinate 100,000 “missed children” against polio.
Out of the 203 positive environmental samples across the rest of Pakistan in 2024, 62 samples taken from various regions of the metropolis proved positive.
District East in Karachi has the greatest number of positive samples (21) according to statistics from the Sindh-Extended Programme on Immunization (EPI), followed by Keamari (11), South (12), Central (6), Malir (6), Korangi (5), and West (1).
Positive samples have also been found in Sukkur (8), Jacobabad (4), Qambar (1), Shikarpur (1), Jamshoro (4), Hyderabad (11), Badin (1), and Mirpurkhas (3) in the remaining parts of Sindh.
Gujro and Safoora in the East, Ittehad Town and Islamnagar in Keamari, Manghopir, the vicinity of Islamia College, Songal in the West, Muslimabad, Landhi in Malir, Alfalah, Bilal Colony in Korangi, Chakiwara, Kahkashan, and Civil Lines in the South are among the high-risk regions of Karachi.
boosting immunization
“We can’t win the battle against polio without improving coverage of routine immunization,” stated Dr. Khalid Shafi, speaking on behalf of the Pakistan Paediatric Association, in reference to the rapidly increasing rate of poliovirus spread. Second, we must exert more effort to improve the reaction we receive from those populations that have grown quite resistant to vaccination.
“There is no chance a child would contract polio if he gets four doses of the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) after receiving two doses of the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at a health center as part of routine immunization,” he said, characterizing vaccination at a fixed facility as the most effective way to deliver a dose.
“There, with its trained staff and well-maintained cold chain, you have the perfect setting. He noted that although IPV offers individual protection, the oral dosage aids in halting the virus’s communal transmission.
Nevertheless, he thought that considering the high number of positive samples found throughout Pakistan, including Karachi, the polio situation was unexpectedly not that awful.
“We must acknowledge the officials who are actively involved in monitoring and responding throughout the nation for this,” Dr. Shafi stated.
low profile of immunity
Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (EOC) Coordinator Irshad Ali Sodhar provided details of the city’s first instance, stating that he visited the family in Keamari and discovered the three-year-old girl walking unassisted.
He stated, “It appears that paralysis has subsided due to previous polio vaccination and she tested positive due to low immunity profile.” The youngster spent nine months in the hospital and had surgery on her left lower limb last year.
He stated that approximately 12,000 “missing children” now reside in District Kemari, even though the UC 3 from whence the most recent case was discovered did not fall inside Karachi’s high-risk regions.
Regarding the current campaign, Mr. Lodhar reported that approximately 52,000 “missed children” had received vaccinations to date and that IPV and OPV had been combined for maximum efficacy.
He said that more than 600 locations had been set up for outreach initiatives aimed at covering kids who were either not vaccinated against polio or who had missed their regular immunizations and IPV shots throughout the city.
The largest obstacle is having an excessive number of stakeholders. Government action is insufficient. “Every person and organization must do their share to protect our children from disability,” he said in closing.
