Amid a host of crises, five polio cases surfaced in two provinces –four in Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KPK) and one in Balochitsan, taking the total number of cases reported in the new year so far to 17.

According to health officials, four cases have been reported in Lakki Marwat District of KPK and one in Pishin District of Balochistan.

The four cases reported in Lakki Marwat include: a 22-month-old baby boy in UC Ghandi Hassan Khel, a 17-month-old baby girl in UC Kotka Arab Khan, an 11-month-old baby girl in UC Aba Khel and a 17-month-old baby boy in UC Bakhmal of Sara-i-Naurang. In Balochistan, the polio virus was confirmed in a seven-month-old baby boy in UC Thar Ratta of Kali Grade Colony. The number of polio cases in Balochistan rose to two in the current year.

The health officials have reportedly confirmed the virus in all the children. The officials said that parents of these children had refused to administer anti-polio vaccine to their kids. The Lakki Marwat has become a hotbed of polio in the region where the situation is aggravated by the refusal of parents to vaccinate their children.

The fresh cases have surfaced at a time when health authorities in both the provinces are going to launch a three-day round of vaccination against the crippling disease.

The new cases are a severe blow to the hectic efforts of the federal and provincial governments as well as donor agencies to eradicate the crippling disease.