ISLAMABAD, Mar 18 (NNN-APP) – Pakistan, yesterday, reported the first case of polio virus in 2023, in the country’s north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the health ministry confirmed.
The virus was found in 20 children in Pakistan last year, and all of them were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a spokesperson for the ministry said.
Almeena Iftikhar, a health worker from the province, said, there is strong resistance against the polio vaccine in some areas of the province.
A door-to-door vaccination campaign, to administer the polio vaccine is currently underway in the country, where health workers are administering the vaccine to kids under five years.
According to the health ministry, the campaign is being held in two phases, and the first phase saw over 17.41 million children under the age of five, vaccinated from Mar 13 to Mar 17.
In the second phase, over 4.12 million more children will be vaccinated from Apr 3 to Apr 7, the health ministry said in a statement.– NNN-APP
