Pakistan’s fight against polio has faltered yet again with five new cases reported in the country, raising the number of victims affected by the crippling virus this year to 99.
“Five new polio cases were reported in different areas of the country, taking the total number of this year’s cases to 99,” Express News reported Saturday.
One of the identified victims is 21-month-old Hamza from Karachi whose parents reportedly refused to give him polio drops during the campaign.
The other four victims are 24-month-old Jaul Haq, 18-month-old Mariam from North Waziristan, 18-month-old Fayyaz from South Waziristan and Maya from Lakki Marwat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The number of polio cases is rising due to the relocation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Waziristan, where military operation has dislocated nearly one million people.
The World Health Organisation slapped travelling restriction on Pakistan this year after it was declared as one of the countries posing a threat of exporting polio-virus.
Pakistan government had announced measures to curb the disease but there are no indications signalling the trend has been reversed.
Along with neighbouring Afghanistan and Nigeria, Pakistan is a country struggling to contain the disease.
