KARACHI, 8 September 2009 (IRIN) - Population movements within Pakistan and between Afghanistan and Pakistan pose serious challenges to those trying to eradicate polio, but efforts are under way to tackle the problem, according to officials.
Many people have relatives in Afghanistan and travel between the two countries is common. Over the past few months some two million people have been displaced by fighting in northwestern Pakistan, and the big cities have long attracted people looking for work.
Karachi, the southern port city of some 20 million people, houses a large population of ethnic Pashtuns, with roots in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) or Afghanistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are among four countries in the world where polio is still considered endemic. Forty-five cases have been reported in Pakistan so far this year, 117 in 2008, and 32 in 2007. The trend appears to be upwards, say experts.
"Mobility of populations is a challenge," Melissa Corkum, a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) programme communication specialist, told IRIN.
She said border immunization points had been set up along the Pakistan-Afghan border to try to stem the spread of the virus.
"Viruses can be tracked genetically. A virus from Karachi has in the past shown up in Afghanistan," she said.
Recent population displacements in northwestern Pakistan have hampered immunization efforts: "This is the first time my youngest child, aged 10 months, was vaccinated against polio," said Muhamad Fazal, an internally displaced person (IDP) from NWFP's Swat District who is currently staying with relatives in Karachi.
Vaccination drives have been disrupted by militants in Swat in the past year, but Fazal hopes it will be possible for his three children to receive polio drops regularly when they return to their village near the town of Saidu Sharif "in a few days' time".
"Techniques have been developed to track IDPs when they return, and also for other populations on the move such as nomads in Thal [southern Punjab]," Corkum said.
Police involved
Road traffic police have also been helping: Last month, a three-day polio immunization campaign was conducted in Karachi at points on the main roads leading to Kot Sabzal, over 600km to the north.
Hundreds of children under five were immunized during the campaign, police said.
Deputy inspector-general of motorway police Daftab Ahmed Pathan said: "This is a challenge we have taken up."
Children travelling on highways have been targeted by police elsewhere in the country since early 2008 in a bid to stem the disease.
kh/at/cb
A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org
Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org
This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.
Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.
