(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) PESHAWAR: Two more polio cases have been confirmed from Lakki Marwat on Monday, taking the number of affectees to 66 in the country this year. The new victims are 6 and 18-month-old children, who haven't taken even a single dose of polio drops.
With new cases, the total number of polio cases has increased to 50 in KP alone, while the number of cases has reached 66 in the country. A total of six cases of polio cases were also reported in Sindh this year, while five cases were surfaced in Balochistan and 5 in Punjab province.
According to polio officials, polio cases are surfacing up in Lakki Marwat and Bannu as people in both districts have most of the anti-polio campaign refusal cases. Explaining the increase in the number of polio cases in both districts, the Prime Minister's Focal Person for Polio eradication Babar Atta said that Bannu and Lakki Marwat are related areas, so whenever polio cases increase in Bannu, polio cases in Lakki Marwat surfaces too. He admitted that the number of polio cases has increased in both districts.
It is to be noted that this year Bannu district was worst affected by polio where 22 cases of polio have been reported so far. Babar Atta also claimed on Twitter that 'Pakistan Polio Program has the best Public Health experts from across the world. We have the presence of WHO-Pakistan surveillance and operations experts in each and every district of the country.'
In a video message the PM focal person has said that the main issues behind the surface of most cases in Lakki Marwat are the refusal of parents in these areas as don't trust the anti-polio campaign. 'Over the years they have let children deprived of polio drops, parents don't trust but we have tried all means to immunize children,' said Atta.
He added that we can't clear the environment until we reach all those children who every time misses polio drops. The focal person added that they are going to run high-level campaigns in winter to clear the environment from poliovirus.
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