Lahore, 18 February 2020 – During a three-day visit to Pakistan, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UNSG) António Guterres, visited a kindergarten school in Lahore during the first nation-wide polio campaign of the year. During this visit, the UNSG vaccinated three students with the polio vaccine. More than 39 million children across the country are set to be vaccinated during the February campaign.
The UNSG commented on the polio eradication efforts of the country, saying that, “Polio is one of the few diseases we can eradicate in the world in the next few years. This is a priority of the United Nations and I am extremely happy to see it is a clear priority for the Government of Pakistan. My appeal to all leaders, religious leaders, community leaders, is to fully support the Government of Pakistan and other governments around the world to make sure that we will be able to fully eradicate polio.”
As part of his visit, the UN Secretary General also met with frontline workers of the programme and commended their contributions to the programme. There are currently 265,000 frontline workers who go door to door during campaigns to ensure that every child has been vaccinated against polio. Almost 62% of these frontline workers are females, who are key to helping the programme rally community members, parents and caregivers in support of polio eradication.
Dr. Yasmin Rashid, the Health Minister for Punjab, welcomed the UN Secretary General to the kindergarten school. Dr. Rashid briefed the UN mission on the Pakistan’s progress in polio eradication, remaining challenges being faced by the country as well as strategies being currently implemented to interrupt virus transmission. She further praised the efforts of the United Nations’ in assisting Pakistan to achieve a polio free status.
“The Government of Pakistan thanks the United Nations for their support and commitment to end Pakistan’s battle against polio. We are committed to working as “one team under one roof” and believe together, we can make Pakistan polio-free,” Dr. Yasmin Rashid said.
In 2019, Pakistan was confronted with a resurgence of the polio virus beyond traditional strongholds of the virus. Wild polio virus cases increased from 12 in 2018 to 144 by the end of 2019. As of today, there are 17 cases thus far in 2020. The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has re-strategized its operations and approaches to better respond to increased transmission of the virus, one of which includes incorporating high level commitment to polio eradication from across the political strata.
Note to Editors:
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system, and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunizations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio free.