Afghanistan is making progress in its fight against polio as Pakistan grapples with rising cases.
Agency News ANI | 06 January 2025 | 02:28 PM IST
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 6 (ANI): Contrary to Pakistan’s growing challenges, Afghanistan has made significant progress in its fight against polio. Global attention is focused on the two neighboring countries that are the last strongholds of the polio virus. According to Dawn, only 25 polio cases were reported in Afghanistan in 2024, while a staggering 68 cases were reported in Pakistan during the same period.
Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio have suffered a major setback. A report by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has revealed that 83 districts of Pakistan are affected by polio while Afghanistan has only 11 provinces. Environmental monitoring reveals alarming disparity: Pakistan recorded 591 positive sewage samples from 106 locations, while Afghanistan reported 100 positive samples from 24 locations.
Suspicious reporting in Afghanistan
Experts in Pakistan’s polio program have raised concerns about the accuracy of the low number of cases in Afghanistan, speculating on underreporting. They argue that Afghanistan is not testing samples from all polio-stricken children. However, this does not diminish the challenges in Pakistan, where rigorous surveillance and testing are still failing to contain the spread of the virus. Pakistan’s reporting system collects thousands of samples annually from each union council, ensuring comprehensive surveillance.
Challenges hamper Pakistan’s progress.
Despite decades of polio campaigns since 1994, Pakistan’s efforts face several challenges, including:
Security concerns: The war on terrorism has created instability in key areas, making vaccination campaigns difficult.
Political instability: Government changes and conflicting policies have affected continuity.
Geographic reach: Areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi, and Peshawar are difficult to reach, leaving many children unvaccinated.
These challenges have created an environment where the polio virus continues to thrive, putting millions of children at risk.
Pakistan’s new effort
In response to Afghanistan’s progress and increased testing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed a new team to lead the country’s polio campaign. The team includes Ayesha Raza Farooq and Anwarul Haq, both of whom have been tasked with addressing deep-seated issues in Pakistan’s eradication efforts. However, whether these steps will be enough is uncertain.
Afghanistan’s progress serves as both a beacon of hope and a wake-up call for Pakistan. Without significant improvements in strategy and implementation, the country risks falling further behind in the global fight against polio.
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