PM Shehbaz Sharif summons National Task Force meeting on Polio

KARACHI: Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has called a meeting of the National Task Force on Polio Eradication after the country reported its first poliovirus case in 15 months.

The relevant authorities requested a brief report from the relevant authorities, and the premier also commanded that a strategy to eradicate the devastating sickness from the country be developed by those in charge.

Dr Shahzad Baig, the Coordinator, National Emergency Operations Centre, revealed that a poliovirus case had been detected and identified in Pakistan after 15 months, making it the third polio case reported in the whole world in 2022.

It has been confirmed that a new polio case has been found in North Waziristan, although the previous poliovirus case was discovered in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan, on January 27, 2021.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) environmental samples obtained earlier in the month have been certified positive by the polio laboratory.

In an effort to eradicate the poliovirus once and for all, the government has launched a series of emergency programmes.