The number of polio cases reported in Pakistan in the current year jumped to 37 after a three-year-old boy was tested positive in Jacobabad.

It means that a total of 13 children have so far been diagnosed with poliovirus in Sindh this year.

With the latest case, Jacobabad has joined list of those districts – Kashmore, Naushehro Feroze and Qambar – where two polio cases have been reported.  

Meanwhile, one case each is reported from Sujawal, Badin, Tando Allahyar, Shikarpur and Ghotki.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tops the list with 18 polio cases followed by five in Balochistan and one in Punjab.

These figures – 37 cases in just over three months – are very alarming as this is a continuation of the trend seen last year [2019] when a total of 146 polio cases were reported in the country.

In some cases, it has been revealed that the parents didn’t allow the polio workers to administer the vaccine to their children, which shows the effect of propaganda against vaccination and the ineffectiveness of the government strategy.

Pakistan has been unable to eliminate polio despite the hope expressed two/three years ago – a period when there was a remarkable reduction in new cases. In fact, the situation is worsening for the last year or so.

In 2015, 54 cases were reported after which there was a clear decline in the number, as the figures had reduced to 20 in 2016, eight in 2017 and 12 in 2018. But a sharp alarming rise was witnessed in 2019 with 146 polio cases.