After polio case detection in Chakwal: Health secretary orders preventing virus spillover

LAHORE: Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator and head of the polio eradication programme in Punjab Khizar Afzaal has directed health authorities to launch a comprehensive case response after detection of a polio case in Chakwal.

He was presiding over a meeting on Monday after returning from a mission to Chakwal District. International polio eradication partners also participated in the meeting. Khizar Afzaal was part of a high-powered committee headed by the Special Secretary Operations Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Muhammad Iqbal which visited the area, spent two days in the field to investigate the polio case and prepared findings for a case response.The committee members collected important information which helped to ascertain the facts leading to the polio case. The team was joined by Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Ali Jan Khan who rushed to the village of the polio-affected child on the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. The secretary monitored health conditions in the district. During his visit, the secretary met with polio-affected child as well as local health authorities.

He visited the health facilities in the affected area, chaired an emergency meeting with all stakeholders and checked vaccination records. Speaking after the meeting on Monday, Khizar Afzaal confirmed that Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Ali Jan had directed authorities to prevent spillover of the virus.

Afzaal disclosed that the findings of the committee would help to determine scope of the case response and prevent recurrence of polio cases in Punjab. He expressed his satisfaction that polio-affected child was recovering fast and in stable condition. He attributed the quick recovery of the child to excellent vaccination history. He confirmed that the child had received OPV and three routine immunisation doses. He disclosed that during the visit of the committee it was found that Afghan population and seasonal nomads were residing within 5 kilometres of the house of the index case.

Afzaal also confirmed that the vaccination record of the child was verified from EPI card and from permanent EPI register. He said that in Chakwal, vaccination of high-risk group children against overall target had increased from 5.4 percent in January 2023 NIDs to 6.8 percent in February 2024 NIDs. He expressed his satisfaction about post-campaign monitoring results trend in Chakwal, which suggested improvement in campaign quality with increase in pass percentage from 50 percent in NIDs October, 2023 to 100 percent in NIDs February, 2024.

However, the EOC coordinator said that Punjab polio eradication landscape was challenged by continuous internal and cross border movement from infected districts, which is causing importation of polio virus.