ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: As Pakistan and Afghanistan are among only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic, the two neighboring nations have agreed to evolve joint strategy for the eradication of the crippling disease.
The agreement was reached at a meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday to review the current polio situation in Pakistan-Afghan border areas and discuss ways to scale up coordination and collaboration on polio eradication.
The Pakistani side was led by the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq while the Afghan side was headed by the Health Advisor Dr Hedayatullah Stanekzai during the meeting.
During the meeting, the prime minister’s focal person for polio said that all out efforts should be made for eradication of polio in South Asia and the world.
In his remarks, the Afghan health advisor lauded the efforts made by Pakistan for the eradication of polio in the frontier regions.
Last year, 179 polio cases out of 306 were reported in Pakistan’s Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan whereas in 2015, only seven polio case have so far been reported in the tribal region. By and large, a total of 24 polio cases have so far been detected across Pakistan this year.
