Despite not reporting a single case in last 10 months, the World Health Organization (WHO) has extended travel restrictions on Pakistan by three more months because of it being the last polio-affected country besides Afghanistan.
The world health body considers the two countries dangerous to be travelled. Lately, in a statement by the Thirtieth Polio IHR Emergency Committee, it said that the two neighbouring countries have failed to eliminate polio completely and may be responsible for the disease’s spread to the world.
On the contrary, Pakistan came a long way in eliminating polio virus from the country as the zero figure has been attained from 84 cases recorded last year.
The committee said that Pakistan’s major issue continues to be the ‘persistently overlooked children’ in core areas, as well as tackling parental refusals and troubling anti-polio drives in sensitive areas.
But it noted that the viral presence in the country’s sewerage systems has shrunk, which has aided in the infection’s containment.
The W.H.O. said that Afghanistan is the main source of Wild Polio Virus, which reaches Pakistan through refugee migration, hence posing a grave threat to the South Asian country. Such curbs were inflicted on Pakistan in May 2014.
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