The Federal Minister of Health, Mustafa Kamal, said on Sunday that of the families who refuse to immunize their children against poliovirus, 85 percent of them reside only in Karachi.
Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, where polyomyelitis remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate virus, challenges such as safety problems, vaccine vaccine and erroneous information have slowed progress.
Earlier on Sunday, Dawn.com The Regional Regional Reference Laboratory for the eradication of polio eradication at the National Institute of Health tested 60 environmental samples collected from 51 districts for poliovirus for the eradication of polyomyelitis at the National Institute of Health. The samples of 20 districts were positive for poliovirus.
Going to a press conference in Karachi, Heath Minister said that currently 44,000 families in the country have refused to vaccinate their children against polyomyelitis.
“At this time, in Pakistan, there are 44,000 rejections, with 34,000 in Karachi alone,” he lamented. “That is a figure of 85-90pc.”
“Of those 34,000 families who refuse to vaccinate their children, 27,000 hail of the east district,” he added.
Kamal said he met with five MPA and two MNA of the East district, with the aim of understanding the Karachi vaccination system and throughout the country and how to make future campaigns “100 percent exit themselves.”
“I want to tell everyone in Pakistan that polyomyelitis exists in Karachi, but the reason why people are not being affected is due to prevention,” he emphasized. “Since the virus is everywhere, if children are not vaccinated for any reason and contract the virus, they will grow with physical disabilities.
“The people on the left and right will tell you ‘You don’t give them the drops’, but I’m here to tell you that not including your children is criminal,” he said.
The Minister of Health stressed that there is an impulse of polyomyelitis in the Afghanistan neighbor and regretted that Kabul has a more complete immunization program than Islamabad.
“This is the first time that a simultaneous polio vaccination campaign occurs in both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “The Taliban are sending door to door equipment to vaccinate children; their program is more integral than ours.
“Afghanistan is vaccinating the children and will eradicate the virus in a few years. God does not allow us to continue the only country in the world with polyomyelitis. Ignore any propaganda and manage potatoes of polyomyelitis to their children.”
The minister announced that 415,000 polyomyelitis workers will participate in a polio vaccination campaign throughout the country on April 21 and urged citizens to cooperate with workers who manage vaccines.
“Please answer them and not bother them, they are trying to protect the future of their children,” he urged.
Answering a question from a journalist, Kamal said that the government has “multiple ways” to act against families who refuse to immunize their children but that would refrain from using them.
“We have the option of legal actions, but I don’t want to use it,” he replied. “We want to relieve people’s concerns and not use hard strength to immunize children. Our goal is to replace government staff and, instead, convince people to vaccinate their children through cultural influence.”
Poly is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. The multiple doses of the polyomyelitis vaccine and the completion of the routine vaccination program for all children under five are essential to provide children with a high immunity against this terrible disease.
