Pakistan will set up mandatory polio immunisation points at its international airports in response to recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
According to WHO, the crippling disease has re-emerged as a public health emergency, with the virus currently affecting 10 countries worldwide and endemic in three, including Pakistan.
“Special measures will include establishing mandatory immunisation counters on all airports, border crossings and seaports for all travelers,” said ministry spokesman Sajid Ali Shah.
WHO had called on Pakistan, Cameron and Syria, which it views as reservoirs polio, to ensure all residents and long-term visitors receive a polio vaccine between four weeks and a year before travelling abroad. For urgent travel, at least one vaccine dose should be given before departure, according to the emergency committee, which also called for all travelers to be given certificates proving they have been immunised.
Shah could not confirm whether long-term non-Pakistani residents would also be subject to immunisation under the new initiative. “That will be decided in a meeting scheduled soon,” he said.
According to WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It has also recorded 59 of the world´s 74 cases this year.
