ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported another polio case from its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Tuesday, the country’s polio program said, taking the total tally of nationwide cases in 2024 to 50 as Islamabad struggles to contain an alarming surge in the infection.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. Starting from late 2018, Pakistan saw a resurgence of cases and increased spread of polio, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding three years. Pakistan reported a total of six polio cases in 2023, up from only one in 2021.
The regional laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad confirmed the wild poliovirus type 1 in a female child from the KP’s Tank district.
“Genetic sequencing of the virus isolated from collected samples indicates it is genetically linked to WPV1 detected in the same district in July,” the polio program said. “This is the second polio case from Tank.”
The program said Tank remains one of the polio-endemic districts of the southern KP province, reporting multiple positive environment samples in 2024 which indicated that polio remained a threat to children.
“There is no cure for polio,” the polio program stated. “Multiple doses of the polio vaccine protect children from the devastating effects of this disease.”
It advised parents to ensure timely vaccination of their children.
This year, 24 cases have been reported from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 10 from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
Pakistan continues to face challenges in its fight against polio, among them misinformation about vaccinations and attacks by religiously motivated militants on polio teams proving to be major impediments to immunization campaigns.
Pakistan’s chief health officer this month said an estimated 500,000 children missed polio vaccinations during a countrywide inoculation drive in November, blaming a large part of it on vaccine refusals.
Seven people, including five children, were killed when a bomb targeted police personnel guarding vaccine workers this month.
Pakistan reports fresh polio case, taking 2024 tally to 50
https://arab.news/2cazy
Pakistan reports fresh polio case, taking 2024 tally to 50
- Female child from northwestern district of Tank contracts poliovirus, says Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme
- Pakistan has reported the highest number of cases this year from Balochistan, 24 and 10 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan, Qatar discuss Afghanistan situation, urge dialogue for regional stability
- The development comes amid renewed Islamabad-Kabul tensions after last week’s Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan
- Qatar, along with other states, helped mediate a ceasefire between the neighbors following weeklong skirmishes in Oct.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar’s Deputy PM Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani on Tuesday discussed the situation in Afghanistan and called for dialogue to promote regional stability during high-level talks held in Doha, Sharif’s office said.
The development comes amid renewed tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan after Islamabad conducted airstrikes on what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets in Afghanistan last week. Kabul said the strikes killed civilians and vowed to respond to the violation of its sovereignty.
This is the second time in less than six months that Pakistan has conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan. The last strikes triggered heavy, weeklong clashes between the neighbors along their border before Qatar and Turkiye mediated a ceasefire between them in Oct. last year.
During their meeting in Doha, PM Sharif and Qatari Deputy PM Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani, who is also the state minister for defense affairs, discussed defense and security relations between the two countries, according to Sharif’s office.
“Regional developments were also discussed, in particular the situation in Iran and Afghanistan,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “Both sides emphasized the importance of dialogue, de-escalation and collective efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.”
Sheikh Saoud appreciated the professionalism and expertise of the Pakistani armed forces and conveyed Qatar’s interest in deepening defense partnership between the two countries, according to the statement.
The Pakistan premier expressed satisfaction over the ongoing collaboration and underscored Islamabad’s commitment to further expanding defense collaboration.
Separately, Sharif held meetings with Qatar’s State Minister for Trade Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed and a delegation of the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA).
During his meeting with the Qatari trade minister, the two sides reviewed bilateral trade and economic cooperation and expressed satisfaction over the growing momentum in Pakistan–Qatar relations.
“The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of enhancing bilateral trade volumes and diversifying Pakistan’s exports to Qatar, particularly in agricultural products, food items and value-added goods,” the Pakistani information ministry said.
Pakistan has been seeking closer economic engagement with Gulf partners amid its broader push to stabilize the economy and attract investment, while maintaining security and defense cooperation with key regional states.
Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s investment-friendly reforms and the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in facilitating foreign investment, according to the Pakistani information ministry.
Dr. Al-Sayed, who is also the chairman of Pak-Qatar joint business taskforce, reiterated Qatar’s interest in expanding economic cooperation and strengthening private-sector and business linkages between the two countries.
“The two sides also agreed to convene a meeting of the task force comprising relevant officials of both countries, within the month of Ramadan, to discuss concrete investment proposals for Qatari investment in Pakistan,” it added.
In his meeting with QBA delegates, Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators and invited QBA members to explore opportunities in infrastructure, logistics, energy, agriculture, technology and export-oriented manufacturing.
Sharif is also scheduled to meet Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha today, Tuesday, to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations, Sharif’s office said.
“Discussions will take place on further strengthening bilateral relations,” it added.
