KARACHI: Officials from Saudi aid agency KSrelief, as part of a Global Polio Eradication Initiative delegation, met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss strengthening Pakistan’s vaccination campaigns, tackling polio challenges and securing support for a polio-free future, according to an official statement released on Saturday.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The South Asian nation’s polio eradication campaign has faced serious challenges, with a significant spike in reported cases this year amid militant attacks on polio teams, prompting officials to reassess their approach to combating the crippling disease.
Pakistan reported two new polio cases from Dera Ismail Khan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province a day earlier, bringing the total number of cases to 52 since the beginning of the year.
“Pakistan hosted a high-level delegation from the GPEI for a second time this year from Nov. 20-22,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program (PPEP) said in a statement, adding that the meeting reflected the highest level of political commitment to eradicating polio in the country.
The delegation included two senior KSrelief officials along with World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF representatives.
The prime minister expressed gratitude to the delegation for supporting Pakistan, emphasizing that the country considers the eradication of polio a top priority.
“A strategic National Emergency Action Plan is being implemented to reverse the virus surge, and all chief ministers and secretaries are providing direct oversight and working in coordination to fight the current polio outbreak,” Sharif was quoted as saying.
“The Government of Pakistan will not rest until we have ended the scourge of polio from our borders,” he added.
The delegation also visited metropolitan Karachi during their stay in the country, where its members met with female frontline health workers to discuss the challenges they face and explore ways to address them, the statement said.
Of the 52 polio cases reported in 2024, 24 were from Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 13 from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, the federal capital.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis, particularly in young children, remains incurable and continues to threaten human health as long as it is not eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have made significant progress in Pakistan, but persistent challenges remain.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported approximately 20,000 cases annually, but by 2018 the number had dropped to eight. Six cases were reported in 2023, and only one in 2021.
KSrelief officials join global delegation meeting PM Sharif to boost Pakistan’s polio fight
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KSrelief officials join global delegation meeting PM Sharif to boost Pakistan’s polio fight
- Shehbaz Sharif says his government will not rest until the ‘scourge of polio’ is completely eradicated
- Pakistan has reported 52 polio cases since the beginning of the year, mostly from KP and Balochistan
Islamabad facilitating thousands of stranded Pakistanis in Gulf amid Iran conflict, FM says
- Pakistani religious pilgrims, visitors are being evacuated via land routes due to airspace shutdowns
- Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says ‘our consistent message is de-escalation, restraint and return to dialogue’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday said that Islamabad was working round the clock to assist thousands of Pakistanis stranded in Arab Gulf countries, reiterating his country’s readiness to facilitate diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Tensions in the region heightened on Saturday following coordinated strikes by the US and Israel against Iran, diminishing prospects of a peaceful settlement of Tehran’s long-running dispute with Western countries and Tel Aviv over its nuclear program.
Tehran subsequently targeted American bases in Gulf states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, prompting their governments to issue condemnations. The Saudi foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned Iran’s drone attack on the US embassy building in Riyadh.
Describing the Gulf situation as “very fluid,” Dar said regional airspace shutdowns had forced Pakistani religious pilgrims and visitors in Gulf states, also home to 4.5 million Pakistani expatriates, to mostly rely on land routes for their exit.
“The safety of Pakistanis abroad and the sovereignty of Pakistan remain our foremost priorities... Our crisis management unit is operational 24 hours to facilitate the stranded Pakistanis,” he said at a media briefing in Islamabad on Tuesday, adding that Pakistani missions in Tehran, Zahedan, Mashhad, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City and Manama were actively assisting nationals.
“If someone’s visa is expiring, as a visitor, they’re are getting fully cooperated. Similarly, if people are transiting from Saudi Arabia to other countries by road, then the other Gulf countries are also facilitating and helping them.”
Around 35,000 Pakistanis were currently in Iran and evacuation through Azerbaijan remained another viable option for those in northern Iran. So far, 64 Pakistanis have crossed into Azerbaijan, with dozens already flown onward, including 42 who reached Lahore on March 2, according to Dar.
Flights between Pakistan and Azerbaijan remain operational and Baku is providing visa-on-arrival and logistical support to stranded Pakistani nationals.
Dar said 4,543 Pakistani visitors were stranded in the UAE and around 1,400 in Qatar due to the conflict and airspace disruptions, adding that Saudi Arabia, home to more than 2 million Pakistani expatriates, remained relatively stable, with partial air operations continuing via Oman.
Land corridors between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Qatar were being widely used and travelers were being allowed to transit by road, he said, thanking authorities in these countries for facilitating Pakistani nationals.
ISLAMABAD’S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS FOR PEACE
The foreign minister said he had been in contact with foreign ministers from Turkiye, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Oman as well as European Union representatives over the past three days to help de-escalate the tensions.
“Our consistent message is de-escalation, restraint and return to dialogue,” he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is personally overseeing the situation and has convened Pakistani parliamentary leaders from all parties for a detailed briefing, he added.
In discussions involving US Secretary of State Marco Rubio prior to the US-Israeli strikes, Dar said, both Oman and Islamabad had been considered potential venues for US-Iran talks and Pakistan had conveyed that it was “fully ready” to host negotiations.
“Islamabad is available for any mediation or facilitation,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s policy did not support a regime change in Iran and focused solely on dialogue and regional stability.
