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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : June 29, 2014 1:40 PM IST
Four new polio cases have been detected in Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan, a media report said on Sunday.
Three of the cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in North Waziristan, Dawn online quoted health officials as saying.
According to the Prime Minister's Montoring and Coordination Cell for Polio, the families of the three children refused to have them vaccinated.
The fourth child, a two-year-old from Miramshah in North Waziristan, was not immunised due to the Taliban's ban on vaccinations.
The total number of polio cases detected in Pakistan this year has risen to 88.
An official from the ministry of national health aervices said the only way to curb the disease was to announce a 'polio emergency'.
'After the proclamation of a polio emergency, vaccine refusal should be declared a crime,' the official said.
What is polio?
Polio or poliomyelitis is a communicable viral disease which affects the nerves and can lead to partial or permanent paralysis. It is transmitted through stool or saliva. The global effort to eradicate polio has been very successful and from 350,000 cases in 1988 only 40 cases were reported worldwide in 2012. There is no cure for the diseases though vaccination can prevent the disease for life. India has done remarkably in eradicating polio and from 2011 no new cases were reported.
With inputs from IANS
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