After the country reported its first case of the crippling and life-threatening disease in 15 months, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that he will chair an emergency meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication.
‘Deeply concerned at the emergence of one polio case in the country. Eradication of polio was a great achievement made possible through sustained efforts. Many polio workers lost their lives in this fight. I have convened a meeting of the National Task Force on Polio for stock-take!’ PM tweeted.
The National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed a case of type-1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) in a 15-month-old boy in Pakistan’s North Waziristan on Friday. ‘Deeply saddened to share that a 15-month-old boy has been paralyzed in North Waziristan,’ Shahzad Baig, a coordinator with Pakistan’s polio eradication programme, tweeted Friday evening.
According to news agency ANI, Pakistan health secretary Aamir Asraf stated Saturday that the case was a tragedy for the child and his family, as well as a setback for Pakistan and worldwide polio eradication efforts.
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