The last pulse polio immunisation drive was cancelled; there is no surety that the next one, scheduled for November 9, will be carried out

A three-day anti-polio campaign kicked off across Sindh on Monday to meet the target of immunising over 2.24 million children under the age of five.

100-Odd Families Lift 30-Yr-Old Self-Imposed Ban

Ending their 30-year-long hiatus, 100 out of 124 families of the Muslim-dominated Karamat Ki Chowki in Kareli have accepted anti-polio vaccination for their wards. Buoyed by the change of heart, the health department has organised three vaccination camps in the area in the last 45 days.

Islamabad, September 19 Fighting between the Pakistani Army and Islamist militants as well as hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday.

: A polio case was detected in Ladheywala Warraich village when a six-month-old infant was tested positive while a health department mobile team continued on Friday administering anti-polio vaccine to

165 Cases Reported Till Sept 7

Considering western UP to be a peculiar case in polio eradication, the WHO and Indian Council of Medical Research will carry out a study to ascertain the level of immunity among the children against the virus following the immunisation programme over the last one year.

Experts are of the opinion that for various reasons western UP has become a peculiar case requiring more doses of vaccine than any other part of the world to develop the same level of immunity in a child.

As the wild polio virus (P3) resurfaced in Bargarh district, many questions were raised about the effectiveness of the polio eradication drive in the State. And whether the routine immunization (RI) process being rightly followed or participation from the target groups is up to mark?

Though these factors are associated with several socio-economic parameters, experts feel that even the failure of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities could be pointers.

Rajahmundry, Sept. 5: In an effort to ensure coverage of all children in the age group of zero to five years in the pulse polio immunisation drive, health authorities are targeting high risk areas where the children often left uncovered in the immunisation drive to administer the vaccine in East Godavari.

The Senate was told on Friday that Sindh, Northern Areas and Fata had became virtual nurseries of polio posing a serious threat to the country.

Holding local governments responsible for the failure of polio eradication programme, Minis-ter for Health Sherry Rehman said during the question hour that vaccines became ineffective because immunisation teams did not keep them at the required temperature.

She said that lack of checks along the border with Afghanistan also contributed to a dramatic increase in polio cases.