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Pakistan jumps into action fearing ‘polio’ travel ban

Polio drive failed because of Pakistan Govt . If they would have stuck to their position Pakistan would have been polio free before India . It is easy to shove blame at others than to accept it . Nigeria did the same . It was about to become polio free when Kano state and couple of other states up north halted polio vaccination . And this is about Polio , not pakistan .

Yeah - Very right, you are more knowledgeable. Happy????
 
It will take sincerity and hard work to eradicate polio completely.
 
5 May 2014 Last updated at 17:23 GMT
World facing polio health emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of polio is an international public health emergency.

Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an "extraordinary event" needing a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says.

It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate.

It says Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria "pose the greatest risk of further wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."

The WHO recorded 417 cases of polio worldwide for the whole of 2013. For 2014, it had already recorded 68 cases by 30 April - up from 24 in the same period last year.

Polio mainly affects children under five years old.

The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine. It can then invade the nervous system, causing paralysis in one in every 200 infections. It is capable of causing death within hours.

'Ongoing risk'
"The conditions for a public health emergency of international concern have been met," said Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director General.


He was speaking after last week's emergency meeting in Geneva on the spread of polio which included representatives of the affected countries.

"The international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an 'extraordinary event' and a public health risk to other states for which a co-ordinated international response is essential," the WHO's International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said in statement.

"If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world's most serious vaccine preventable diseases."

The WHO also lists Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria as "posing an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014.":coffee:

It is only the second time in the WHO's history it has made such a declaration, the first being during the swine flu pandemic of 2009, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports.

The polio virus is endemic in just three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. But attacks on vaccination campaigns in Pakistan in particular have allowed the virus to spread across borders.

Syria, which was polio-free for 14 years, was re-infected with the virus from Pakistan.

Refugees are still pouring out of Syria, to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and checking whether all of them have been vaccinated will be impossible, our correspondent says.

Polio infected countries
  • Afghanistan
  • Cameroon
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Ethiopia
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Somalia
  • Syria
  • Source: WHO
BBC News - World facing polio health emergency

Well i do believe & agree that Pakistan needs to do more to overcome this outbreak, but WHO have completely ignored the fact that Pakistan is fighting on multiple fronts, so they should have given Pak some more time, but NO Lets put travel restriction NO wait lets isolate Pakistan & let us help other countries suffering from same by not putting any restriction on them.:coffee:
 
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Would it be safe to say in Pakistan polio is mostly found in the KPK province and of many races in Pakistan mostly amongst the Pashtoon race.
 
Pakistan to set up polio vaccination points at airports
AFP
Updated May 06, 2014 11:46am

The WHO warned Monday that the crippling disease has re-emerged as a public health emergency, with the virus currently affecting 10 countries worldwide and endemic in three including Pakistan.

“Special measures will include establishing mandatory immunisation counters on all airports, border crossings and seaports for all travellers,” said ministry spokesman Sajid Ali Shah.

The WHO had called on Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria, seen as posing the greatest risk of exporting wild poliovirus, to ensure all residents and long-term visitors receive a polio vaccine between four weeks and a year before travelling abroad.

For urgent travel, at least one vaccine dose should be given before departure, according to the emergency committee, which also called for all travellers to be given certificates proving they have been immunised.

Shah could not confirm whether long-term non-Pakistani residents would also be subject to immunisation under the new initiative.

“That will be decided in a meeting scheduled soon,” he said.

According to the WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It has also recorded 59 of the world's 74 cases this year.

The disease has re-emerged in Pakistan because the Taliban and other militants violently oppose inoculation campaigns and because of public fears that the vaccine leads to infertility.

Militants see the polio campaign as a cover for foreign spying and regularly attack immunisation teams, killing some 56 people since December 2012.

Their opposition has increased since a Pakistani doctor Dr Shakil Afridi helped track down terror chief Osama bin Laden in 2011 using a fake vaccine project.

Last month officials announced they would begin administering polio drops to children at security checkpoints in the country's lawless tribal belt.

India, which recently celebrated the eradication of the disease, announced in December it would require Pakistanis to obtain vaccination certificates six weeks before cross-border travel.
 
My area in Pakistan? Well...Not sure never ventured into those galiyan where they do have

yaar now its not about " andheri Galiyan " or " na-malum Maqaam " everyone knows that where they are hiding and who is supporting those A Holes ...
 
yaar now its not about " andheri Galiyan " or " na-malum Maqaam " everyone knows that where they are hiding and who is supporting those A Holes ...
Well I am not one who lives there so I dont really have a reason to know every madrassah in the area :unsure: or any madrassa as a matter of fact!
 
Well I am not one who lives there so I dont really have a reason to know every madrassah in the area :unsure: or any madrassa as a matter of fact!

phir kahan hote ho aj kal ;)
well I personally think govt should check all mdarsaas and mosques ...
and also throw out these Afghani, Tajik and uzbiks .. who no less than garbage
 
phir kahan hote ho aj kal ;)
well I personally think govt should check all mdarsaas and mosques ...
and also throw out these Afghani, Tajik and uzbiks .. who no less than garbage
Arent they part of our diversity?! :what:
 
Polio vaccination certificates will be free of cost: Tarar
By Ali Sidiki
Published: May 7, 2014

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar on Wednesday said that the government is working towards clearing all confusions regarding travel restrictions that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended for Pakistan, Express News reported.

Tarar was speaking to the media after a meeting with all provincial health ministers and representatives of health departments.

The WHO on Monday recommended that travel restrictions be placed on Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria for being the only three countries that are currently exporting wild poliovirus.

“We just spoke with the WHO head, and have asked him to give us 15 days to devise a strategy,” Tarar said.

We also told him to announce internationally that for the next 15 days Pakistani passengers should not asked to present proof of vaccination, she added.

Clearing the confusion about people with foreign passports, she said: “People who intend to stay in Pakistan for over four weeks should be vaccinated.”

She also added that Pakistani citizens traveling abroad will be provided with polio vaccine certificates free of cost.

Tarar also took the opportunity to inform the media that the provincial governments are working towards providing security to polio workers, adding that polio vaccination centres will be set up in each province.

“Rs80 crores will be spent annually on polio vaccinations,” she added.

She said that there are no travel restrictions on Pakistanis, and the polio certificate issue is not “a big deal”.
 

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